Indulge in Sydney’s 16 most decadent desserts

Core Apple at Oncore by Clare Smyth 

Michelin-starred chef Clare Smyth brought her signature core apple dessert from London to her Crown Sydney restaurant, Oncore. A soft apple mousse and baked apple pieces are encased in a shiny shell of red and green that brings to mind the toffee apples of your childhood. The best part? The core apple is just the first of two desserts that come with the classic set menu. 

Oncore by Clare Smyth, Barangaroo - Credit: Oncore by Clare Smyth

Ginger Crème Brûlée Tart at Bourke Street Bakery 

Bourke Street Bakery is a Sydney icon, with the Surry Hills outpost turning out delectable bread, pies and pastries for more than 20 years. Our pick is the ginger brûlée tart – the rich, fragrant custard is spiced with ginger, cinnamon and cardamom before the top is caramelised with a blowtorch and finished with a sprinkle of crushed pistachio. Yum. 

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills - Credit: Bourke Street Bakery

Fruit and Ricotta Danish from AP Bakery 

With AP Bakery's commitment to seasonal ingredients, the fruit you get in this sweet, sticky, creamy delight will vary throughout the year. In winter, you can expect poached quince with dark chocolate cremeux, hazelnut praline and ricotta set cream. During the warmer months, fresh figs are paired with almond frangipane and ricotta. 

AP Bakery, Surry Hills - Credit: AP Bakery

Crown on 487 from Lode Pies & Pastries 

You’ll need to arrive at Lode early if you want to try their signature sweet. The Crown on 487 is a delicate croissant dough bracelet topped with raspberry glaze, rose petals and pistachio crumbs. It’s so complex to make, that only 15 come out of the kitchen every day. Don’t worry if you miss out – the raspberry tarts or banana and pecan croissants are just as good. 

Lode Pies and Pastries, Surry Hills - Credit: Lode Pies and Pastries

Pink Somer Donut from Grumpy Donuts 

Sometimes, you can’t beat the classics. Grumpy Donuts has an ever-changing menu of flavours like cookie dough, peanut butter Boston cream, blueberry lemon bliss, raspberry fritter and dirty chai. But a traditional donut slathered in bright pink icing and rainbow sprinkles will always hit the spot. 

Grumpy Donuts, Camperdown - Credit: Grumpy Donuts

Nomtella Cake at KOI Dessert Bar  

It's the cake that made Reynold Poernomo famous on MasterChef and now he serves up the the aptly named Nomtella every day at KOI. Layers of dark chocolate brownie, espresso mousse, salted caramel ganache and hazelnuts come together in the perfect nutty mocha-y bite.   

Koi Dessert Bar, Chippendale - Credit: Koi Dessert Bar

Goya at La Renaissance 

It’s only fitting that the delicate French pastries at the bijou La Renaissance should be named for artists; they look like works of art themselves. The Goya is raspberry mousse with a creamy passionfruit centre, almond nougatine and pain de genes biscuit base, with one of their signature macarons on the side. 

La Renaissance Patisserie and Cafe, The Rocks

Balles Bougatsa at Lukumades

Lukumades are a traditional Greek doughnut, sold from pastry shops or hole-in-the-wall cafes as an afternoon snack, often topped with sweet syrup and crushed walnuts. Taking cues from its namesake, there’s plenty of modern flavours on offer at this Chippendale venue, but you can’t go past a classic – Balles Bougatsa is filled with custard and topped with cinnamon and icing sugar. 

Lukumades, Chippendale - Credit: Lukumades Australia

Strawberry Watermelon Cake at Black Star Pastry

It’s called the most Instagrammed cake in the world and with its pretty-as-a-picture layers of almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream and watermelon, topped with strawberries, pistachios and dried rose petals, it’s easy to see why. Expect a line out the door at Black Star Pastry most days to get one. 

Black Star Pastry, Newtown - Credit: Black Star Pastry

White Coral at Quay 

Quay’s snow egg was the first dessert in Australia to become a celebrity in its own right. In 2018 it was replaced by white coral – white chocolate ganache frozen with nitrous oxide until it takes on a spongy, coral-like texture, served with coconut cream and feijoa ice-cream. 

Quay, Circular Quay

Salted Caramel and White Chocolate Gelato at Gelato Messina 

Every gelato aficionado has its own favourite scoop from Gelato Messina, true legends of the game in Sydney, but the salted caramel and white chocolate is consistently their best seller. It’s made with milk from Messina’s own jersey cows and churned fresh in-store every day. 

Gelato Messina, Darling Square - Credit: Gelato Messina

Cheesecake at Uncle Tetsu

A cult favourite in Japan, Uncle Tetsu brought their brand of oh-so-fluffy cheesecake with the golden brown top to Australia in 2016. Demand was so intense when it first opened that there was a limit of one cake per person. Happily, you can now buy as many as you like. 

Uncle Tetsu's, Sydney City - Credit: Uncle Tetsu's

Baked Ricotta Cake at Pasticceria Papa

This traditional southern Italian bakery has been a Sydney favourite for more than 30 years and those in the know always order the baked ricotta cake at Pasticceria Papa. Made from a secret family recipe, its light and fluffy ricotta is encased in flaky pastry that melts in your mouth. 

Pasticceria Papa, Haberfield

The OG Lamington at Tokyo Lamington 

A Japanese take on the iconic Australian sweet, Tokyo Lamington has a huge range of flavours from fairybread popcorn to yuzu meringue and banana caramel, but it’s hard to go past the classic. Fluffy sponge, raspberry jam and vanilla cream, dipped in chocolate and coated in coconut – bliss. 

Tokyo Lamington, Newtown - Credit: Tokyo Lamington

Portuguese Tart at Sweet Belem 

Daydreaming about a Portuguese tart that rivals the famous delights you find on the streets of the Lisbon suburb of Belem? Head to Petersham’s Sweet Belem, which sells between 600 to 1,000 pasteis de natas on a weekend day. Once you bite into the flaky outer shell to the warm custard inside, you’ll understand why the Inner West bakery has become an institution.  

Sweet Belem, Petersham - Credit: Sweet Belem

Almond Croissant at Flour and Stone

Found in the back streets of Woolloomooloo, Flour and Stone serve up classic bakery delights, including coffee, pastries, cakes, and savoury sausage rolls and pies. The real showstopper, however, is the flaky almond croissant – cooked fresh every night by chief of viennoiserie Mary Johnston, using Pepe Saya butter. Come hungry so you can taste other menu delights, such as sourdough crumpet with ricotta and honeycomb, or a creamy leek and gruyere tart.

Flour and Stone, Woolloomooloo - Credit: Flour and Stone