Skip to Content

German Desserts – 41 Best Desserts in Germany to Try

In this article, learn about the delicious German desserts and which ones of the best desserts in Germany you shouldn’t miss!

READ HERE: Best German eSIM for tourists, Best German prepaid sim card for tourists, vegetarian food in Germany to try, German breakfast dishes to try and top food in Germany to try when visiting

German chocolate and candy are known all over the world for their premium quality and exquisite flavors. Many of the sweets which are now available almost everywhere originated in Germany. The most prominent example might be the world-famous “gummi bear” which is, of course, a German invention.

Most German desserts are Holiday classics you might see at markets and in grocery stores as holiday specials. Holidays cookies popular worldwide like the gingerbread man and almond spritz cookies both have German origins.

Table of Contents

GERMAN DESSERTS AND WHY THEY ARE POPULAR

Germans love their desserts and they are popular for them. Anyone who has lived in Germany or spent at least a week there and paid attention to the ways of the locals will tell you that the Germans have great love and respect for sweet treats combined with a passion for local and seasonal ingredients. 

It is hard to miss that enjoying various Kuchen with afternoon coffee or tea is a deeply ingrained cultural practice and the overall daily lives of the people include multiple traditional specialties catering to one’s sweet tooth. German bakeries will never go out of business!

When it comes to desserts Germany has a vast and rich culinary heritage. 

Let’s look at the German desserts you need to make sure you get to try when you visit Germany. Now, this list is exhaustive, so you might try some at another time!

OKTOBERFEST & BAVARIAN DESSERTS

Oktoberfest, the biggest folk festival in the world is famous for its beer, but the food is just as important, if not even more so.

The dessert options are truly decadent and reflect the regional Bavarian character of the festival. 

Cakes, espresso, and beer are all famous in German cuisine, which will come as welcome news to most!

Read here best: Germany Sim Card for Tourists and how to get from Munich airport to city centerFrankfurt airport to city centerBerlin airport to city center and Hamburg airport to city center.

WHERE TO STAY IN GERMANY

You can access a dorm that can go up to €18-30. And while a hotel that is a double room in a budget can go up to €90.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATION IN GERMANY

German Desserts – Best Desserts in Germany

1. Black Forest Cake / Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

Black Forest gâteau or Black Forest cake - German Desserts - 41 Best Desserts in Germany to Try
Black Forest gâteau or Black Forest cake – Desserts In Germany

Black Forest gâteau or Black Forest cake is a chocolate sponge cake with a rich cherry filling based on the German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, literally “Black Forest Cherry-torte”. Typically, Black Forest gateau consists of several layers of chocolate sponge cake sandwiched with whipped cream and cherries. 

Some historians say that the cake dates back to the 1500s when chocolate first became available in Europe. More specifically, its birthplace would have been the Black Forest region of Germany, which is known for its sour cherries and kirschwasser.

2. Zwetschgenknoedel / German Plum Dumplings

Zwetschgenknoedel / German Plum Dumplings - German Desserts, Desserts in Germany

Zwetschgenknoedel / German Plum Dumplings are a popular Autumn dessert across Eastern Europe. It is made with fresh ripe plums coated in mashed potato dough and tossed into sweetened cinnamon breadcrumbs. A fantastic Fall recipe that goes well with the whole family, these plum dumplings are so easy to make but heavenly delicious.

These little dumplings are such a cute idea for an after-dinner treat.

Quark is a soft cheese that can be smooth or more like cottage cheese. It provides a great mild flavor and excellent texture for the dough.

The slightly tart plums become tender while cooking and are a pleasant change to the normal apple-cinnamon combination. 

Just be sure your water isn’t boiling, or it can ruin the dough.

3. Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake

German Desserts, Desserts in Germany,  Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake

Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake – A unique, yeast-based “cake,” this bread/cake is a classic in German bakeries that you shouldn’t miss. This gets topped with a honey almond mixture that will caramelize during baking. 

4. Pflaumenkuchen / German Plum Cake

Pflaumenkuchen / German Plum Cake - Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake

Pflaumenkuchen / German Plum Cake is a German classic for “kaffee und kuchen” ie coffee time. It’s easy to make and really lets the juicy, sweet-tart plum flavor shine.

5. German Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake

German Chocolate-Sauerkraut Cake - Desserts in Germany and German desserts

A decadent and super tempting German Chocolate-Sauerkraut Cake! Sauerkraut and coconut are the secret ingredients that give this recipe for German Chocolate-Sauerkraut Cake its rich texture.

6. German Chocolate Cake

German Chocolate Cake - German Chocolates, German Desserts, Desserts in Germany

German Chocolate Cake – the signature of German Chocolate cakes is the layering inside where you get to see 3 layered flavors, and topped with pecan on top. Delicious and can make any occasion or even any afternoon feel special!

7. Rote Grütze / Rodgrod / Red Berry “Pudding”

Rødgrød, rote Grütze, or rode Grütt - German Desserts

Rødgrød, rote Grütze, or rode Grütt, meaning “red groats”, is a sweet fruit dish from Denmark and Northern Germany. Fruits are essential elements of German desserts, especially as a lot of these seasonal fruits just make the desserts feel more special.

8. Quark-tasche / German Cheese Pastry – German Desserts

Quark-tasche or German Cheese Pastry- Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake
Image via Chefkoch – Desserts In Germany

Quark-tasche or German Cheese Pastry is special in Germany because of how they use Quark or soft cheese that is almost only available in Europe and hard to find in other countries. Whether you’re having this for breakfast or a quick snack, it’s a no-brainer.

9. Custard Pastry / Quarkteilchen

Quarkteilchen - Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake
Image via Julia’s Baking Passion

Another German pastry, Quarkteilchen is very popular because of use of Quark cheese.

10. Quarkbaellchen / Quarkbällchen / German Quark Balls with Cinnamon and Sugar

Quarkbaellchen - Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake , Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake
Image via Home and Herbs – Desserts In Germany

Quarkbaellchen is using quark but with dough made into balls and topped with cinnamon and sugar – now that’s super delicious.

11. Käsekuchen / German Cheesecake

Käsekuchen / German Cheesecake - Desserts in Germany

Käsekuchen / German Cheesecake – Who would know that cheesecake has some really good German origins? Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft, fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. If there is a bottom layer, it most often consists of a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake.

12. Dampfnudeln mit Vanillesauce / German Steamed Dumplings with Vanilla Sauce

Dampfnudel - Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake

Dampfnudel is a sort of white bread roll or sweet roll eaten as a meal, and well can easily be a dessert.

13. German Chocolate Bars

German chocolate bar - German Desserts

A classic German chocolate bar is a dark baking chocolate created by Samuel German (hence the name), who developed the chocolate in 1852. He thought this type of chocolate would be convenient for bakers as the sugar is already added to it. Until now, it’s such a worldwide classic.

14. Spaghettieis / Spaghetti Ice Cream – German Desserts

Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake

Spaghettieis, or spaghetti ice cream, is a German ice cream dish made to resemble a plate of spaghetti. In the dish, vanilla ice cream is extruded through a modified Spätzle press or potato ricer, giving it the appearance of spaghetti. Now this is such a nice prank and fun suprise!

15. Eiskaffee / German Iced Coffee 

Bienenstich / Bee Sting Cake , German Desserts, Desserts in Germany

German Iced Coffee – Yes, we’re adding it to desserts, as it really deserves a spot on this list. Germans loved adding milk and vanilla cream on top of their really good coffee.

16. German Apple Strudel / Apfelstrudel

German Desserts, Desserts in Germany

Apple strudel is a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria, Bavaria, the Czech Republic, Northern Italy, Slovenia, and other countries in Europe that once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Easily a dessert in Germany to have any time of the day.

17. Lebkuchen Cookies / Lebkuchenherzen / Gingerbread cookies

German Desserts, Desserts in Germany

Lebkuchen, Honigkuchen or Pfefferkuchen, are a honey-sweetened German cake molded cookie or bar cookie that has become part of Germany’s Christmas traditions. It is similar to gingerbread

18. German Crumb Cakes & Streusel Cakes / Streuselkuchen

German Desserts, Desserts in Germany

German Crumb Cakes & Streusel Cakes / Streuselkuchen – Everyone’s favorite comfort-food coffee cake? This is it. Soft and moist, nicely cinnamon-y, this is the quintessential breakfast coffee cake.

19. German Apple Pancake / Apfelpfannkuchen / German Pancake

German Apple Pancake / Apfelpfannkuchen / German Pancake   - German Desserts

German Apple Pancake / Apfelpfannkuchen / German Pancake – a big German breakfast favorite for sure!

20. Danube Wave Cake (Donauwelle)

Donauwelle - German Desserts, Desserts in Germany
Image via Flickr / Gourmandise

Donauwelle is a traditional sheet cake popular in Germany and Austria. It is made of layers of plain and chocolate pound cake combined to have a wavy border between them. It contains sour cherries and is topped with buttercream and chocolate glaze.

21. German Cream Puffs / Windbeutel

Windbeutel - Desserts in Germany

Windbeutel are cream puffs made with choux pastry but in German, they can be filled with just cream – or my personal favorite, ice cream!!!

22.  Kirschmichel

Kirschmichel - Desserts in Germany

Kirschmichel is a traditional German cherry dish. This dish can be easily substituted when it comes to certain ingredients.

The cherries can be frozen or fresh and the vanilla sugar can be replaced with vanilla extract if needed.

23. Chocolate Chip Mandelbrot Cookies – German desserts

Mandelbrot, with a number of variant spellings, and called mandel bread or kamish in English-speaking countries and kamishbrot in Ukraine, is a type of cookie found in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine and popular amongst Eastern European Jews.

24. Sachertorte – German Desserts

Sachertorte - German Desserts

Sachertorte is a chocolate cake, or torte of Austrian origin, invented by Franz Sacher, supposedly in 1832 for Prince Metternich in Vienna. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties

25. German Fruit Flan / Obsttorte

German Fruit Flan / Obsttorte – This fruit flan has no shortage of color or fruit. While you can use most fruits that you like, we recommend a mixture of berries, kiwi, and citrus-based fruit such as oranges or clementines.

Although we’ll admit, peaches, mangoes, and plums pair well too.

26. German Rum Balls

German rum balls, also known as Rumkugeln, are easy and simple to make. This is a no-bake dessert that can be tailored to your tastes. Some like to add chocolate sprinkles, while others use cocoa powder.

And it doesn’t stop there. Hazelnuts can be added or taken out depending on your liking while the rum can do the same. Just add as much or as little as you’d like.

Or you can even use rum extract.

Even the chocolate can be altered, although we suggest using both dark and milk chocolate together.

27. Gummi Bears / Gummibären

Gummi Bears / Gummibären - Deserts in Germany

Gummi Bears or Gummibären are of German origin – Now that’s a great German trivia! The Gummi Bear was invented in 1922 near Bonn, in the kitchen of confectioner Hans Riegel. The fruit-flavored gelatin bear became more and more popular throughout the years and is now exported all over the world, including the US, where they first made an appearance in 1982. Gummi bears are produced in 6 different colors which are white, green, yellow, orange, light and dark red. The corresponding flavors are pineapple, apple, lemon, orange, strawberry and raspberry.

28. Marzipan

Marzipan is another popular confectionery item in Germany, that is made of ground almonds and sugar. It has a long history in Germany, dating back to the 16th century when it made its way from the Middle East, via Venice, to the tables of Germany’s nobility. Up until the 18th century, marzipan was used for medicinal purposes until becoming a delicacy for the rich in the early 19th century. Now you will find marzipan being eaten both on special occasions such as Easter and Christmas, but also during the rest of the year. Marzipan comes in all shapes and sizes, both in plain, for use in cooking or in the form of animals such as the “Good Luck Pig” (Glücksschwein) and also covered in chocolate in the shape of loaves, balls and bars.

29. Mozartkugeln / German Mozart Balls

A Mozartkugel or “Mozart Ball” is a ball-shaped, chocolate-coated confectionery, with a pistachio- and almond-marzipan center and an outer layer of nougat. It was invented in 1890 in Salzburg by a confectioner called Paul Fürst, who named it after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The original name was Mozartbonbon which was later changed to Mozartkugel.

Unfortunately, Paul Fürst did not think to protect the name “Mozartkugel” which means that it left other companies open to legally copying his product and using the name “Mozartkugel”. After several legal proceedings the courts decided that only Fürst’s company may use the name “Original Salzburger Mozartkugeln.” Other producers of the Mozartkugel may use names such as”Echte Salzburger Mozartkugeln” (Genuine Salzburg Mozartkugel) which is used by the Austrian company Mirabell and “Echte Reber-Mozartkugeln” (Genuine Reber Mozartkugeln) which have been made by the German company Reber in Bad Reichenhall since 1938. Reber exports its Mozartkugeln to 40 different countries and makes over 500,000 of them per day! Their Mozart Balls are dome-shaped while the Mirabell ones are perfectly round.

More Desserts In Germany

30. Schaumkuss / SchokokussSchaumkuss /Schokokuss / German Chocolate Kisses

Image via Wikimedia / Vegan Warrior

Schaumkuss / SchokokussSchaumkuss /Schokokuss / German Chocolate Kisses – The “Foam Kiss” or “Chocolate Kiss” is a confection consisting of a waffle base, a foam center made of egg whites and a chocolate covering. There are many variations of the Schaumkuss, some with a white chocolate covering, some with milk chocolate and some are covered in coconut or nuts. The Schaumkuss is also called a Schokoladenkuss, Schaumzapfen, Süßpropfen or a Naschkuss. Germans eat over 1 billion Schaumküsse every year and the average child eats around 100 of them. German children also like to eat them squashed between 2 halves of a Brötchen (bread roll) which they call “Matschbrötchen”, “Klatschbrötchen”, “Datsch” or “Schokokussbrötchen”.

31. Pfeffernuesse Cookies / German Peppernut Cookies

Pfeffernuesse Cookies / German Peppernut Cookies – German for “pepper nut,” Pfeffernüsse are named for the pinch of pepper added to the dough before baking.

32. Puddingbrezel

Image via Flickr / Like_the_Grand_Canyon – Desserts In Germany

Puddingbrezel is a pretzel-shaped pastry with sweet vanilla pudding, truly a German bakery staple!

33. Blushing Maid – German Raspberry Dessert

Blushing maid is a German dessert that goes a long way back. A lot of the poorer people who didn’t have access to a lot of ingredients invented this yummy treat.

34. German Chocolate Cake Trifle – German Desserts

German Chocolate Cake Trifle – This German treat is separated into two parts, the chocolate mousse, and the coconut-pecan filling, and both are equal parts delicious. Coconut is commonly used in Germany and it is used here again as the top layer of this dessert.

The mousse provides an airy and light texture while the cake is moist and filling. However, this recipe will take a lot of time to make, about four hours.

35. Almond Spritz Cookies

Image via Hungry Girl in Queens

Spritz cookies are baked straight away, with no additional rolling or chilling, giving them a more tender crumb. Shortbread, on the other hand, develops a crisp snap, thanks to gluten produced during the rolling and shaping steps.

36. Dipped Gingersnaps

A gingersnap, ginger snap, ginger nut, or ginger biscuit is a biscuit flavored with ginger. Ginger snaps are flavored with powdered ginger and a variety of other spices, most commonly cinnamon, molasses and clove. There are many recipes.

37. Christmas Stollen – German Desserts

Christmas stollen, also known as Christstollen - desserts in Germany, Holiday German treats

Christmas stollen, also known as Christstollen, is a German pastry that has been around for 700 years!

This dessert includes nuts, spices, dried fruit, and candied citrus peels making it so incredibly tasty. And there are lots of variations on this dessert including marzipan-based stollen and poppy seed-based stollen.

38. German Coconut Macaroons / Kokosmakronen

German Coconut Macaroons / Image via Open Food Facts Org

German coconut macaroons, also known as Kokosmakronen, taste a lot more like a meringue cookie than your average macaroon.

39. Linzer Cookies

Linzer cookies are buttery, jam-filled sandwich cookies based on the classic Viennese Linzer torte, a nutty jam-filled pastry with a lattice

40. Raspberry Custard Kuchen

 The raspberry custard kuchen is a mix of a crumbly dough from butter, flour, heavy cream, salt, and sugar.

41. German Rice Pudding

German rice pudding, also known as Milchreis, is fairly easy and only takes about 40 minutes to make. It makes four servings, so it may be a good idea to double the recipe.

This rice pudding recipe has only five ingredients and three suggested toppings, which are cinnamon, sugar, and fruit. These can be used as sparingly as you’d like.

It is suggested to use a pressure cooker because the rice pudding could easily get burned by the stove.

The milk and sugar are what you need to keep an eye on when using the stovetop.

Hope you liked our German desserts blog post. Which one in the list of desserts in Germany dishes is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

Feel free to use our links for discounts. By using our links, you will help us to continue with the maintenance of the website and it will not cost you anything. Thanks for the love guys.