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.
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 center, Frankfurt airport to city center, Berlin 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 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 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
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 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
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 – 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, 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 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
Another German pastry, Quarkteilchen is very popular because of use of Quark cheese.
10. Quarkbaellchen / Quarkbällchen / German Quark Balls with Cinnamon and Sugar
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 – 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 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
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
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
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
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
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 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 – a big German breakfast favorite for sure!
20. Danube Wave Cake (Donauwelle)
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 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 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 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 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
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
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
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, 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, 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.