Best Milk Street Desserts

Portuguese Sponge Cake (Pão de Ló)

Portugal's famously airy, eggy cake with a gooey layer underneath a thin withered crust.

By Rose HattabaughFebruary 5, 2021

Broken Phyllo Cake with Orange and Bay

The soaking syrup we use in this pudding-like citrus cake is infused with warm spices for added dimensions of flavor and fragrance.

By Rose HattabaughJanuary 5, 2022

Spanish Almond Cake (Tarta de Santiago)

This fragrant almond cake taught us the secret to extra springy, chewy texture.

By Julia RackowAugust 6, 2018

Amalfi-Style Lemon Cake

"I married her just for the lemon cake," a sixth-generation Amalfi lemon farmer told us.

By Rose HattabaughOctober 22, 2021

Bête Noire

Cookbook author Lora Brody’s creation bête noire is no typical chocolate cake: silky, custardy, with a base of sugar syrup.

By Wes MartinOctober 16, 2019

Almond-Coconut Cake with Cherries and Pistachios

A Milk Street fan favorite, this cake adapted from “Honey & Co.: The Cookbook” mixes rustic Middle Eastern flavors—fruits, nuts, spices, and coconut.

By Rose HattabaughApril 9, 2021

Chocolate-on-Chocolate Three-Layer Cake

This grand, triple-layer, old-fashioned chocolate cake comes from “Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook” by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day, proprietors of Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia. Cheryl Day learned the recipe from her grandmother but put

By Rose HattabaughOctober 29, 2021

Chocolate-Hazelnut Cream Cake

Rich chocolate cake, layered with a light, hazelnutty whipped ganache: our special-occasion dessert adapted from Dominique Ansel.

By Wes MartinOctober 12, 2020

Danish Dream Cake

This fluffy vanilla "dream cake" (drømmekage), gets its dreaminess from a light crumb and a gooey, glossy, caramelized coating.

French Almond-Rum Cake (Gâteau Nantais)

France’s decadent (and doable) almond-rum cake

By Diane Unger & Rose HattabaughDecember 18, 2019

Yelapa-Style Sweet Corn Pie (Pay de Elote)

This pie is our adaptation of a recipe from food writer Paola Briseño-González, who was inspired to re-create the pay de elote (corn pie, translated from the Spanish) sold by the slice in the beach town of Yelapa in central Mexico. Use either white or

By Milk Street & Erin BarnhartNovember 14, 2025

French Apple Cake

This simple French cake is more apples than cake, held together with a light crumb and thin golden crust.

German Apple Cake (Apfelkuchen)

“This is one of those slam dunks that worked, and I loved it right away."

Italian Flourless Chocolate Torta

A deeply chocolatey flourless cake, devised from a century-and-a-half-old secret recipe from Vignola, Italy.

By Rose HattabaughJune 11, 2021

Mexican Sweet Corn Cake

This super versatile reader favorite makes a light and sweet breakfast, dessert, or anytime snack. And it's made in a blender!

By Calvin CoxMarch 25, 2020

Swedish “Sticky” Chocolate Cake

Sweden's popular "sticky cake," or kladdkaka, is for the diehard chocolate lover.

By Rose HattabaughAugust 10, 2020

Sweet Fresh Corn Pudding

We can’t wait til summer to make Vivian Howard’s light, elegant sweet corn soufflés. OR Our summery take on the classic French soufflé.

Yelapa-Style Chocolate Pie

This decadent, cocoa-rich pie comes from the beaches of Yelapa, where pies are eaten in hand, by the slice.

By Rose HattabaughFebruary 10, 2022

Banana Custard Pie with Caramelized Sugar

Recipe writer Paola Briseño-González’s rustic banana custard pie, inspired by Yelapa’s beachside pie, is best topped with crackly-crisp sugar brûlée.

By Rose HattabaughDecember 21, 2021

Coconut Macaroon Pie

Adapted from Yelapa—where pie is sold by the slice and eaten by hand—recipe developer Paola Briseño-González describes this as coconut macaroon in pie form.

By Rose HattabaughDecember 15, 2022

Yogurt Loaf Cake with Coriander and Orange

An easy yogurt cake often baked by French children, with a moist crumb and an added fragrant, zesty lift.

By Diane UngerDecember 14, 2020

Swedish Cardamom Buns (Kardemummabullar)

Swedish cardamom buns, wafting of holiday aroma, are a reason to look forward to winter. There’s a reason we devote some time to these: the reward of soft, yeasted buns, rich with buttery sugary cardamom aroma, is well worth it.

Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rye flour—an addition we learned from Claire Ptak—makes for a far more complex, robustly flavored chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

Can a chocolate cookie be fudgy, airy, and crispy at the same time? We were delighted to find that the answer is yes!