Melbourne's Best Desserts: Sweet Treats to Try for Yourself

Dessert may be the last part of a meal, but it’s certainly not the least. Those of us with a raging sweet tooth know that it can be the highlight of the evening, offering up an explosion of flavour and texture that sends our pleasure receptors tingling.

Step up your dessert game with our favourite scoops, slices and dishes across the city.

Spanning both creative and classic sweets, the best desserts in Melbourne will have you coming back for seconds.

Chimnutz 

Drawing inspiration from the delightful world of Hungarian kurtoskalacs (chimney cakes), Chimnutz is one of the best desserts in Melbourne spinning sweet dreams into a delectable reality.

Here, the enchanting flavours of Eastern Europe meet the playful spirit of Australia and Asia, with tantalising variations including fruit salad custard, cheesecake and boba milk tea. 

Grazeland, 20 Booker Street, Spotswood

Thai Desserts at Rong Cha

A new addition to the best desserts in Melbourne, you need to pay a visit to this buzzy Thai cafe in the city. Alongside a wealth of Thai street food dishes, Rong Cha is also a coffee and dessert one-stop shop, where all your sweet dreams can be had.

Thick and scrumptious burnt butter toast is the star attraction here, a clever crafting of crunchy and fluffy. with a decadent signature topping combo of vanilla ice cream and Biscoff crumbs.

Delicious toast specials range from ube cream, fresh strawberry milk and banoffee, to Thai tea, coconut-mango and pandan. 

18 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 

Cakes at Tori's 

Sometimes the best desserts in Melbourne are found tucked away down a lane in a CBD bakery brimming with insanely delicious cakes... just like at Tori's.

This little bakery - with its cosy vibes, vintage interiors and artisanal cakes - offers a sweet escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Grab a spot on their comfy couch and enjoy a delicious array of coffee, hojicha and premium matcha before you choose a sweet bite to eat.

Their home-baked cakes and treats taste as good as they look, with everything from lychee shortcakes and madeleines with magical flavour combinations. Pure cake bliss, every time. 

28 Niagara Lane, Melbourne

Cheesecake at LeTAO

You need to try Japan's best-selling cheesecake at LeTAO. Formed in Hokkaido in 1998, they launched their beautifully minimalist Melbourne flagship to rave reviews.

In addition to their signature Double Fromage cheesecake, the shop features an array of seasonal specials and in-store exclusives. Their milk and cheese-swirled soft serve is also a must-try, made better when served with a shot of Market Lane coffee.

The best part? It's open until 10.00pm daily, making it perfect for any late-night cheesecake cravings.

238 Swanston Street, Melbourne 

Grill Americano's Tiramisu

Decadent yet light, tiramisu might just be the perfect way to end any meal. The Italian dessert can be found in many places, but few are doing a rendition as good as Grill Americano.

Bringing a slice of Italian elegance to Melbourne via NYC, enjoy a sensational dining experience before ordering up some of the city's latest dessert magic. 

They add their spin by adding a thin layer of tempered chocolate, which adds a satisfying texture to a covetable tiramisu.

The best part? It's scooped out tableside by Grill's white-jacketed wait staff. 

112 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 

Gelato at Kariton Sorbetes

Melbourne is brimming with top-tier gelaterias, but none are churning flavours as exciting as Kariton Sorbetes.

The small batch shop translates beloved Filipino flavours into vivid desserts. You’ll find scoops like purple yam with caramelised coconut curds and avocado condensed milk.

Made with creamy Gippsland Jersey milk, you can get your gelato in a cup, cone or soft homemade bread bun, just like they do in the Philippines.

Footscray, Melbourne & Glen Waverley

Boozy Baklava Tiramisu from Maha North & Maha East

We're in love with this luscious iteration of this tried and tested dessert. Say hello to Maha North and Maha East's baklava tiramisu, decked out with candied filo and nuts, and layered with kaymak & honey cream and boozy sponge fingers.

Easily one of Melbourne's best desserts, you don't want to miss out on a serving of this beauty. Savour every bite of this sweet, creamy, nutty and playfully textured concoction and try your best not to float right up to foodie heaven. 

86 Smith Street, Collingwood

36 Chapel Street, Windsor 

Traditional ricotta cannoli at T. Cavallaro & Sons

It's a big call, but this family-owned patisserie might make the best cannoli in Melbourne. T. Cavallaro & Sons has been part of the fabric of Footscray since the 1950s, treating customers to their crisp pastries filled with lush cream or freshly whipped ricotta.

They fly out the door on weekends along with other traditional Sicilian sweets, cakes and biscotti, so swing by early and buy a box to enjoy after dinner that night.

98 Hopkins Street, Footscray

Tarts Anon

From lockdown hustle to a bricks-and-mortar store, Tarts Anon has been one of Melbourne's most hyped openings in the last few years.

Specialising in magnificent sweet and savoury tarts, the perfectly even, crisp shells are paired with classic yet addictive fillings.

While the rich chocolate and caramel tart is their bestseller, we can’t go past their trusty lemon tart, particularly when it’s supercharged with a layer of zippy rhubarb jam.

29a Gwynne Street, Cremorne

44 Sackville Street, Collingwood

Peanut Butter Parfait at Supernormal

Supernormal’s peanut butter parfait is an iconic dessert in Melbourne, having been served continuously on their menu since 2014.

The decadent dessert sees smooth peanut butter parfait covered in a pool of salted caramel sauce, topped with a quenelle of the silkiest chocolate mousse and a scattering of crushed peanuts.

Sticky, sweet, salty and rich but never overpowering, it’s a must-try dessert for any foodie.

180 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Ice Cream Mochi at Hareruya Pantry

Have you ever tried Yukimi Daifuku? The Japanese treat wraps ice cream in a thin blanket of mochi (rice cake), resulting in a bite that’s soft, chewy and sweet.

Try an elevated version at Hareruya, a Melbourne dessert takeaway-slash convenience store. Each serve is wrapped to order, encasing gelato flavours like matcha, sesame and yuzu. You can also get your scoop inside a rice wafer sandwich and pick up miso brownies and castella cakes.

15–17 Lincoln Square South, Carlton

Bibelot Cakes

Bibelot’s opulent cakes showcase the best of French patisserie, each incorporating dozens of techniques and artful garnishing.

The hazelnut praline crunch cake is their signature for a reason – the nutty, choc mousse cake is an explosion of textures, combining hazelnut dacquoise, gianduja mousse, chocolate crémeux, praline crunch, chocolate chantilly, hazelnut choc crumble and salted caramel macarons. Safe to say, one slice is never enough.

285-287 Coventry Street, South Melbourne

Chocolate Soufflé at Grossi Florentino

The Grossi Florentino chocolate soufflé is true Melbourne dessert royalty. It was on the menu before the Grossi family took over at the turn of the century.

Simultaneously light and rich, it's easy to see why it's both revered and still on the menu. It's made with dark Callebaut cocoa, served in a copper pot and paired with hazelnut praline and a Valrhona dark chocolate sauce.

The amaretto ice cream served alongside is genius, adding a level of complexity to the tasting experience as a whole. 

80 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Lamington Gelato Cake at Piccolina

The lamington gets an irresistible Italian remix at Piccolina, where they’ve turned the classic Aussie treat into a delicious gelato cake.

At first glance, it looks like a normal lamo (albeit round) but a bite reveals creamy semifreddo and strawberry jam loaded between layers of sponge cake.

Encased in dark chocolate and sprinkled with coconut, it’s both sweet and surprisingly sophisticated. The only part of this next-level dessert we can’t get behind is their claim that each cake “serves 2”.

Various locations in CBD, Collingwood, Richmond, Hawthorn and St Kilda

Gulab Jamun and Pistachio Kulfi at Delhi Streets

Generously laced with sugar, syrup and butter, Indian sweets are not for the faint-hearted. On the flip side, you can be assured that these bite-sized cakes, puddings and slices always return maximum flavour per serving.

At Delhi Streets try the most popular Indian dessert gulab jamun - soft semolina doughnuts soaked in warm syrup. Pair it with cooling and creamy pistachio kulfi – ice cream flavoured with pistachios, cardamom, saffron and cinnamon.

22 Katherine Place, Melbourne

Soufflé Pancakes at Kumo

Home to some of the best desserts in Melbourne, Kumo - meaning cloud in Japanese - is serving up irresistibly fluffy soufflé pancakes.

They're delicious and oh-so light, with an array of tantalising flavours including Boba Brulee Bomb, Biscoffee, Baconana and Puffy Pandan. In a word: yum! 

Melbourne Central,  198 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 

Anything from Palette. at night. 

Who doesn't craving something sweet at night? This understated North Melbourne hangout is supplying Melburnians with coffee and matcha, croffles and desserts aplenty.

A delightful combination of Korean and Australian flavours is ready and waiting at Palette. at night. with their delectable desserts truly impossible to resist.

Think hojicha swiss rolls, pistachio and raspberry or crispy cinnamon croffles,  Basque cheesecake, signature tiramisu and a French toast-style Biscoff brioche.

610 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne

Made your way through the best desserts in Melbourne and keen to try your own hand? Bake your way to happiness with the cake recipes and cookie concoctions you’ll want to try immediately.