30 of Our Most Intoxicating Desserts
You've just finished a fantastic meal, and there's only a bit of room left in your belly to spare. Do you go for an after-dinner cocktail or opt for a sweet treat? Let's make the choice a bit easier: With these delectable alcohol-infused desserts, you can have your booze and eat it, too. Admittedly, not all the recipes in this round-up will move you toward tipsy; in some, the alcohol is burned off during the cooking process, and in others, only a tiny amount is used for flavor. What we can say, however, is that all of these desserts are decidedly delicious, thanks in part to their boozy ingredients. Learn how to make flambéed apple pie, refreshing strawberry-Champagne granitas, tangy limoncello cheesecake, and more amazing adult desserts.
Baba au Rhum Punch
Chef Paola Velez's take on baba au rhum adds layers of dark rum and fresh fruit flavor to homemade brioche. With almost a cup of top-shelf dark rum between the cinnamon-spiked rum soak and the strawberry-peach Rum Punch Coulis, this opulent dessert is only for adults.
Brandy Pecan Pie
A blend of turbinado sugar, maple syrup, and honey makes for a pecan pie with well-rounded sweetness. A dash of apple brandy adds a faint caramel apple flavor and brightens the nutty toasted pecans.
Guinness Ice Cream with Chocolate-Covered Pretzels
This dessert, created by pastry chef Cory Barrett, is an ode to Michael Symon's father, Dennis, who loves beer, pretzels, and chocolate. The ice cream has a strong, malty Guinness flavor that goes supremely well with the salty, milk chocolate–covered pretzels. If you don't want to make the pretzels, they're easy enough to buy.
Negroni Cookies
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver
These chewy cookies lean on orange zest–infused sugar and Campari icing to pay homage to the namesake cocktail. For a slightly less bitter cookie, try Aperol instead of Campari in the glaze.
Limoncello-Ricotta Cheesecake
Limoncello — the sweet, potent Italian lemon liqueur made by steeping lemon peel in grain alcohol or vodka — is the star of this silky, creamy dessert. The filling is lightened by the addition of ricotta cheese and boasts citrusy flavors from both the fresh lemon juice and limoncello. The basil garnish balances the lemon nicely, but feel free to swap in berries or mint if you prefer.
Chocolate-Bourbon Tart
Chef Michael Glissman's tart is like a dark chocolate truffle in a crisp, flaky cocoa crust. Bourbon adds a wonderful smokiness; be sure to heat it carefully with the sugar so it doesn't ignite.
Apple Flambé Pie
Apple cider and a combination of fresh, cooked, and dried apples join forces in this stovetop apple pie filling enhanced with licorice-laced pops of toasted fennel seeds and fragrant orange zest. Just before serving, the pie is topped with flaming Calvados for an extra punch of apple flavor — or, if you'd like to play off the cinnamon in the pie, flambé using Fireball.
Sour Cherry Lambic Sorbet
? Frances Janisch
"Above all, sorbet should taste — and feel — almost like eating fresh fruit," says ice cream maven Jeni Britton. She makes this sorbet with an old-fashioned style of Belgian beer called lambic, which is brewed with wild yeasts.
Flambéed Candied Chestnut Cake
This rich cake from 2017 F&W Best New Chef Angie Mar is set aflame with Cognac. It's delicious served with a dollop of crème fra?che or, as they served it at The Beatrice Inn in New York City, with a scoop of white truffle ice cream and shaved white truffles.
Almond, Elderflower, and Lime Travel Cakes
Inspired by French travel cakes (small sweets meant for bringing to parties, picnics, and other events), pastry chef William Werner created these miniature desserts. He calls them "gussied-up pound cakes."
Sweet Potato Honey Beer Pie
Dark beer, honey, and spices including turmeric, ginger, and cardamom give this pie rich, complex flavors. The recipe's various components can be made on different days if you want to prepare the dessert in advance.
Moscato Pound Cake with Grape Glaze
Moscato gives this cake a lighter, more tender crumb than a typical pound cake while imparting a subtle sweetness. Freeze-dried grapes bring vibrant color to the glaze. If you like, you can substitute lime juice in place of Moscato in the glaze for a brighter pink color.
Bananas Foster
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
These bananas cooked with a citrusy brown sugar-rum sauce and topped with crispy pecans are so good, we eat this dessert straight from the pan. With ice cream, of course.
Cannoli
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
Cannoli, a crisp and creamy Italian dessert with origins in Sicily, is made of butter-based pastry dough infused with Marsala wine and cinnamon that's been molded into a tube and fried until crispy. It's stuffed with an orange-scented mascarpone and ricotta cheese filling, then dipped in chopped chocolate or pistachio.
Porter Bundt Cake with Whiskey-Caramel Sauce
This richly flavored cake features quintessential Irish ingredients such as dark porter beer, dark brown sugar, and whiskey.
Pi?a Colada Pie
In this swoon-worthy dessert, the classic tropical flavors of a pi?a colada cocktail are transformed into a pie featuring layers of silky coconut custard and a caramelized pineapple jam made by simmering fresh pineapple with brown sugar. Adding rum to the hot pineapple mixture burns off the harsher taste of the alcohol while leaving a pleasant kick.
Chocolate-Hazelnut Matzo Cake
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
This rich matzo cake layers espresso liqueur-soaked matzo with melted chocolate and toasted hazelnuts. If you prefer to lighten the alcohol, reduce the liqueur by half and replace that volume with water or brewed espresso. Feel free to switch up the liqueur in this recipe with rum, cognac, or sherry.
Fig Bars with Red Wine and Anise Seeds
This delicious homemade grown-up version of Fig Newtons calls for adding red wine and anise seeds to the jammy fig filling. The crust gets even more tender the day after baking.
Candied Almond Affogato
The Italian dessert affogato is simplicity at its finest — all you need to make it is a scoop or two of gelato and a shot of hot espresso. Here, we've added almond liqueur to the mix for a little extra flair, and candied almonds and crushed amaretti cookies for some crunch. The elegant treat comes together in just a few minutes, making it an easy and impressive option for entertaining.
Bread Pudding with Irish Whiskey
This hearty dessert melds the sweetness from the vanilla beans with the punch of whiskey for a spectacular flavor — think adult French toast.
Banana Pudding Paletas
For this dreamy treat, pastry chef Paola Velez takes all the components you love about classic banana pudding — complete with vanilla wafers — and turns them into creamy paletas. With nutty browned butter, bits of banana, and crushed vanilla wafers held together by pudding, this refreshing dessert will keep you coming back for more. For a grown-up version, add a splash of bourbon.
Apple-Rum Spice Cake
A tender chiffon cake pairs well with the light and billowy frosting, seasoned with zingy fresh ginger juice. Warm spices and a shot of rum add a kick to the apple compote that makes this a centerpiece dessert for the adult table.
Spiced Pavlovas with Oranges and Mulled Wine Caramel
In these individual pavlovas, the aromas and ingredients of a Bavarian Christmas market — glühwein, toasted almonds, spiced cookies — are infused into the components of the classic Australian dessert: A base of sweet, cinnamon-spiced meringue is topped with fresh, tangy quark and crowned with bright citrus and intense mulled wine caramel.
Margarita Shortbread with Tequila-Lime Glaze
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver
These buttery cookies are infused with agave nectar and fresh lime juice for a sweet-and-sour kiss of citrus, then finished with a glaze that incorporates lime juice, zest, and a touch of tequila to really tie together the signature cocktail flavor.
Aperol Spritz Cake with Prosecco-Poached Rhubarb
Choose deep red stalks of rhubarb for the most vibrant color atop this springtime dessert. The poached rhubarb syrup slowly soaks into the sponge, lightly glazing the top while adding delicious moisture to the cake below.
Butterscotch Pudding Pie
Top Chef judge Gail Simmons likes to keep her butterscotch pudding homey, focusing on the buttery flavor and lingering finish of real Scotch. Once in a while, if she wants to impress, she thickens the pudding more than usual and pours it into a fully cooled pie crust flecked with golden pecans. The contrasting textures of rich pudding and nutty, flaky dough make this a grown-up ode to the comforting childhood classic.
Strawberry-Champagne Granita
Blending fresh strawberries with sparkling wine, chef Andrew Zimmern’s beautiful and refreshing granita is the perfect dessert for a midsummer party.
Mudslide
Created in the 1970s at Grand Cayman's Wreck Bar at Rum Point, this potent blend of vodka, Kahlúa, and Baileys Original Irish Cream might taste like a milkshake, but it can't be ordered virgin because all you'd get is a cup of crushed ice! A generous drizzle of chocolate syrup and a bright red maraschino cherry with a dusting of ground cinnamon top off each glass.
Chocolate-Red Wine Cake
A recipe in Anne Willan's 2001 Cooking with Wine inspired this fluffy, not-too-sweet cake, which uses just enough wine in the batter to give it a slight boozy flavor.
Crêpes Suzette
? Con Poulos
Chef Jacques Pépin’s key to making crêpes Suzette for a crowd is preparing the orange butter sauce in advance. You can then flambé the liquor and pour the sauce over the crêpes, serving the dessert right away.
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