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 the sweets 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.
The best Christmas desserts 2024
Christmas cake with spiced pineapple and rum-lime icing
Rum adds a boozy edge to this irresistible Christmas cake.
Panettone and mango trifle with lemon verbena and verjuice jelly
Christmas calls for a trifle. And this panettone and mango trifle, topped with torched meringue, is just the ticket.
Champagne and peach jelly with crème fraîche panna cotta
This dessert will definitely wow a crowd.
Gingerbread cake with yoghurt, dates and burnt-orange caramel
Sugar and spice make this layer cake an impressive festive dessert.
How to make a Yule log (bûche de Noël)
Roll up this fresh take on a traditional Yule log, with fresh raspberries and pistachios.
Cardamom-pistachio pavlova with rose cream
As showstopper desserts go, this pavlova takes out the cakes.
AP Bakery’s buckwheat ginger biscuits for Christmas
A quick and easy Christmas ginger biscuit recipe for festive feasting.
Vincotto berry and amaretto cream trifles
Supersize me: For an impressive festive dessert, simply assemble in a large trifle dish and dress with extra summer berries.
Mango macadamia merveilleux with Dulcey cream
This meringue spectacle is sure to be the star at Christmas lunch.
Peach pavlova trifle with brandy custard
Two favourite desserts combine in this peach and pavlova trifle.
Dairy-free honey and macadamia tart with figs and blackberries
Make honey the hero.
Lauren Eldridge’s apricot, honey, coffee and macadamia trifle
The Berowra Waters Inn pastry chef is known for her original take on desserts, and this trifle is her latest Christmas-ready offering.
Mango, macadamia and spiced white chocolate pavlova wreath
Inspired by the flavours of Australian summer, this stunning pavlova wreath is the perfect festive centrepiece. Begin this recipe the day before.
Pistachio and rose roulade with lychees and raspberries
This elegant dessert combines a light, pistachio-flecked sponge with a decadent chocolate-cream filling.
Sparkling shiraz jelly with almond granita
Opposites attract in this cooling dessert of milky granita and bold fruity jelly.
Chocolate coconnetta parfait cake
Inspired by the nostalgic Viennetta ice-cream cake, this fun dessert is sure to delight at any party.
Damien Pignolet’s guide to making gâteau Saint-Honoré
Bearing the name of the patron saint of French pâtissiers, this crown-like confection of pastry and crème is a cake in a venerable tradition.
Eggnog ice-pops with milk crumb
The traditional Christmas treat receives a very Australian makeover.
Jaclyn Koludrovic’s gluten-free pistachio, lime and coconut cream cake with melon, apple and mint
Talk about a showstopper cake.
Lauren Eldridge’s brunkager (spiced Danish gingerbread biscuits)
Make a double batch of these biscuits. They’ll disappear in a snap.
Nougat and chocolate semifreddo
Need a Christmas dessert that combines the traditional and the modern? This one ticks the boxes.
Black Forest chocolate roulade
Sour cherries add a lovely fresh tart note to this roulade. Fresh cherries will work here, too, if you can find them.
Lorraine Godsmark’s peachy panettone with cassata ice-cream
Lorraine Godsmark recipe for peachy panettone with cassata ice-cream for Gourmet Institute.
Lauren Eldridge’s Christmas fruit pudding frozen nougatine
A cool spin on the traditional yuletide pud.
Chocolate tart
A perfect specimen of a dessert.
Golden mango and passionfruit caramel tart
Slicing and layering the mango can be a fiddly process, but it’s worth if for the final result.
Nadine Ingram’s passionfruit tart
This tangy and creamy passionfruit tart will bring a ray of sunshine to your morning tea.
Black Star Pastry’s strawberry and watermelon cake
The iconic cake from Black Star Pastry with layers of dacquoise, watermelon and rose-scented cream.
Peach and buttermilk tart
A beautiful peach tart with the perfect crumbling shortcrust pastry.
Flour & Stone’s stollen with sour cherries
This recipe makes two loaves of the spiced German fruit bread – keep one for Christmas Day, and give the other as a gift.
How to make fruit mince tarts
Pâtissière extraordinaire Lorraine Godsmark of Sydney pâtisserie Lorraine’s reveals the secrets to her highly sought-after Christmas tarts.
Cherry, almond and burnt-butter tart
Emma Knowles recipe for cherry, almond and burnt-butter tart.
Speculaas (spiced Christmas cookies)
These are some grown-up treats that Santa won’t mind chasing with a glass of ice-cold milk – and neither will you.
White Christmas with sour cherries, almonds and Grand Marnier
A grown-up version of the yuletide treat.
Lauren Eldridge’s no-churn passionfruit ice-cream with lime sherbet and blackberries
The ice-cream is delicious on its own, but transforms into something else when paired with that sherbet.
A pâtissière’s guide to making Black Forest cake
Chocolate and kirsch are the stars of this knockout classic German dessert gâteau, with a light, airy sponge the key to success. Catherine Adams shows how it’s done.
Frozen bûche de Noël
This hazelnut-semifreddo version of the classic Yule log is here to save your Australian Christmas.
Lauren Eldridge’s eggnog custard tarts
Portuguese tarts meet bourbon-spiked eggnog in this Christmas-ready treat.
Damien Pignolet’s guide to making croquembouche
The art of pastry-making reaches its peak with this awe-inspiring centrepiece but break down the steps and it’s an achievable feat.
Flour and Stone’s Italian Christmas cake
Put your stamp on this classic dessert by switching out the nut and fruit varieties.
Lauren Eldridge’s white chocolate and pistachio profiterole wreath
For a Christmas dessert to remember.
The best Eton mess recipes
The crunch of meringue, the tingle of cold cream, and always, always, a tumble of seasonal fruit. It’s time to get messy.
Our best pavlova recipes for the holiday table
Dreamy meringue is the finishing touch on this festive dessert
Best trifle recipes for Christmas and beyond
Layer up. Make your Christmas dessert one to remember with these towering trifle recipes.
11 Christmas pudding recipes
There’s sugar, spice and all things nice. Get ahead with your Christmas dessert preparation and you’ll be rewarded on the big day.
Bookmark these nougat recipes for Christmas
Soft and chewy or firm and crunchy – the choice is yours.
How to build a gingerbread house
Baker? Builder? This Christmas, you can be both.
Christmas ice-cream cake with festive crumb
This grown-up ice-cream cake marries traditional Christmas flavours with a salted crumb and an indulgent chocolate and whisky sauce.
Cherry and gingerbread bombe Alaska
For dessert with drama.
How to make semifreddo
The lesser known sibling of gelato makes for a cool and colourful Christmas centrepeice. Plus, it’s easy to prepare ahead.
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