Best Christmas desserts

After the main event on Christmas Day, keep the show rolling on with one of these stunning Christmas dessert recipes. From a boozy trifle to a cool frozen treat or a pavlova crowned with summer fruit, there’s only one rule for the holiday season: make it a showstopper.

If you’ve been tasked with Christmas dessert this year, you’ll no doubt want to impress even the fussiest of relatives with your holiday desserts. So, we bring you everything from easy Christmas desserts to make ahead of time to a theatrical croquembouche for an edible Christmas tree-fashioned treat that delivers that extra wow factor.

We also have popular Christmas desserts galore – think Yule log cakes, pavlova wreaths, Christmas cookies, mince pies and mince tarts, delicious eggnog tarts, and Christmas puddings.

Turn to these Christmas dessert ideas, and you can’t go wrong.

Here are our best recipes for Christmas desserts.

Coconut and cherry frangipane tart from AP Bakery

Coconut and cherry frangipane tart from AP Bakery

How to make a Yule log (bûche de Noël)

How to make a Yule log (bûche de Noël)

Cardamom-pistachio pavlova with rose cream

Cardamom-pistachio pavlova with rose cream

AP Bakery’s buckwheat ginger biscuits for Christmas

**AP Bakery’s buckwheat ginger biscuits for Christmas**

Vincotto berry and amaretto cream trifles

Vincotto berry and amaretto cream trifles

cross-section of meringue log cake coated in coconut flakes, displaying two yellow layers with mango chunks and — Photo: Ben Dearnley

AP Bakery’s mango macadamia merveilleux with Dulcey cream

AP Bakery’s mango macadamia merveilleux with Dulcey cream

Peach pavlova trifle with brandy custard

Peach pavlova trifle with brandy custard

Dairy-free honey and macadamia tart with figs and blackberries

Dairy-free honey and macadamia tart with figs and blackberries

Lauren Eldridge’s apricot, honey, coffee and macadamia trifle

Lauren Eldridge’s apricot, honey, coffee and macadamia trifle

Mango, macadamia and spiced white chocolate pavlova wreath

Mango, macadamia and spiced white chocolate pavlova wreath

Bird's eye view image of roulade cake topped with raspberries and pink petals, sitting on white and pink plates and beside a gold-tipped fork — Photo: Ben Dearnley

Pistachio and rose roulade with lychees and raspberries

Pistachio and rose roulade with lychees and raspberries

Sparkling shiraz jelly with almond granita

Sparkling shiraz jelly with almond granita

photo of colourful table setting with rectancgular ice-cream cake topped with chocolate crumb in the centre — Photo: Ben Dearnley

Chocolate coconnetta parfait cake

Chocolate coconnetta parfait cake

Damien Pignolet’s guide to making gâteau Saint-Honoré

Damien Pignolet’s guide to making gâteau Saint-Honoré

Eggnog ice-pops with milk crumb

Eggnog ice-pops with milk crumb

Jaclyn Koludrovic’s gluten-free pistachio, lime and coconut cream cake with melon, apple and mint

Jaclyn Koludrovic’s gluten-free pistachio, lime and coconut cream cake with melon, apple and mint

Gingerbread stars with buttermilk icing — Photo: Mark Roper

Lauren Eldridge’s brunkager (spiced Danish gingerbread biscuits)

Lauren Eldridge’s brunkager (spiced Danish gingerbread biscuits)

Nougat and chocolate semifreddo

Nougat and chocolate semifreddo

Black Forest chocolate roulade

Black Forest chocolate roulade

Lorraine Godsmark’s peachy panettone with cassata ice-cream

Lorraine Godsmark’s peachy panettone with cassata ice-cream

Lauren Eldridge’s Christmas fruit pudding frozen nougatine

Lauren Eldridge’s Christmas fruit pudding frozen nougatine

Chocolate tart

Chocolate tart

Golden mango and passionfruit caramel tart

Golden mango and passionfruit caramel tart

Nadine Ingram’s passionfruit tart

Nadine Ingram’s passionfruit tart

Black Star Pastry’s strawberry and watermelon cake

Black Star Pastry’s strawberry and watermelon cake

Restaurant Hubert’s melon en surprise

Restaurant Hubert’s melon en surprise

Peach and buttermilk tart

Peach and buttermilk tart

Flour & Stone’s stollen with sour cherries

Flour & Stone’s stollen with sour cherries

How to make fruit mince tarts

How to make fruit mince tarts

Over-the-top shot of a circle tart studded with whole and halved cherries, dusted with icing sugar. — Photo: Ben Dearnley

Cherry, almond and burnt-butter tart

Cherry, almond and burnt-butter tart

A round white plate, with an ornamental red floral border, holding star-shaped baked cookies. — Photo: Ben Dearnley

Spiced Christmas cookies (speculaas)

Spiced Christmas cookies (speculaas)

Sour-cherry and roasted-almond white Christmas — Photo: William Meppem

White Christmas with sour cherries, almonds and Grand Marnier

White Christmas with sour cherries, almonds and Grand Marnier

Lauren Eldridge’s no-churn passionfruit ice-cream with lime sherbet and blackberries

Lauren Eldridge’s no-churn passionfruit ice-cream with lime sherbet and blackberries

A pâtissière’s guide to making Black Forest cake

A pâtissière’s guide to making Black Forest cake

Frozen bûche de Noël

Frozen bûche de Noël

Golden square tin holding hand-sized custard tarts with burnished tops, each in their own white paper casing. There's also a glass holding a rose-pink speckled bauble, which is kind of weird, but we'll take it. — Photo: Mark Roper

Lauren Eldridge’s eggnog custard tarts

Lauren Eldridge’s eggnog custard tarts

Croquembouche

How to make a croquembouche

An Italian Christmas cake — Photo: Ben Dearnley

Flour and Stone’s Italian Christmas cake

Flour and Stone’s Italian Christmas cake

Lauren Eldridge’s white chocolate and pistachio profiterole wreath

Lauren Eldridge’s white chocolate and pistachio profiterole wreath

Eton mess recipes

All the best Eton mess recipes

Pavlova recipes

Pavlova recipes that are perfect for dessert, every time

Trifle recipes

Trifle recipes for Christmas and beyond

Traditional Christmas pudding with Pedro Ximénez and brown sugar and fig ice-cream — Photo: Chris Chen

Christmas pudding recipes

Don’t wait until it’s too late to make these Christmas pudding recipes

Cranberry, pistachio and almond nougat — Photo: James Moffatt

Nougat recipes

Bookmark these nougat recipes for Christmas

How to build a gingerbread house

How to build a gingerbread house

Photo of a white ceramic cake stand with crumbed Christmas ice-cream cake topped with glossy chocolate and whisky sauce — Photo: Ben Dearnley

Christmas ice-cream cake with festive crumb

Christmas ice-cream cake with festive crumb

Cherry bombe Alaska

Cherry and gingerbread bombe Alaska

White chocolate, raspeberry and pistachio semifreddo

White chocolate, raspeberry and pistachio semifreddo

The Gourmet Traveller Team

Gourmet Traveller is Australia’s trusted authority on food, travel and luxury lifestyle, bringing the latest news and trends to life through quality journalism, enticing recipes and evocative photography. For more than 55 years, it has been inspiring and informing Australians with the best in cooking, dining, travelling and shopping. Our critics bring the expertise of years of critical eating, drinking and writing to the table. Plus, as the country’s leading title in the luxury sector, Gourmet Traveller works closely with Australia’s leaders in the travel and hospitality industries to give our readers exclusive access. The Gourmet Traveller legacy is one of trust, prestige and relevance.