Recipes

30 of Our Most Outrageously Decadent Dessert Recipes

These desserts are definitely worth busting out your husky pants for.
A single chocolate lava cake topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The cake has been sliced open and the liquid...
Alex Lau

There's a special stratosphere of desserts that requires us to bust out our husky pants—the ones we keep on hand when we don't want to deal with the judgmental pink teeth marks that come about when we put a little too much strain on our regular pants. These 30 recipes—from the richest chocolate cakes to caramel ice cream to gooey brown butter blondies—are so outrageous, so decadent, and so worth keeping your big pants within reach.

  • Image may contain Food Bread and Peanut Butter
    Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    1/30

    Caramel Ice Cream

    A dark caramel has the necessary bitter edge to balance the sweet richness of the custard. Let it cook until it’s mahogany in color.

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  • Image may contain Food Creme Dessert Cream Confectionery and Sweets
    Photo by Stephen Lewis
    2/30

    BA's Best Hot Fudge

    Chocolate can burn, which would ruin an otherwise impeccable sauce. Make sure to stir all the way down to the bottom of the pan after adding the chocolate and cocoa.

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  • Image may contain Creme Cream Food Dessert Ice Cream and Burger
    Alex Lau
    3/30

    Horchata Semifreddo

    Normally served cold as a sweet cinnamon-and-rice drink, horchata translates seamlessly to this creamy dessert.

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  • Slices of cheesecake with graham cracker crust on a blue background with forks to the side.
    Photograph by Emma Fishman, Prop styling by Emma Ringness, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi
    4/30

    BA's Best Cheesecake

    Room temperature ingredients ensure a smooth and creamy texture; take the cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs out of the refrigerator about 2 hours ahead of time.

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  • A giant cookie in a skillet
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi, Prop Styling by Alex Massillon
    9/30

    Giant Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

    The batter for this large-format dreamboat of a cookie (crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle) is made in one bowl with no special equipment, and can be baked in either a cast-iron or large skillet.

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  • A single chocolate lava cake topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The cake has been sliced open and the liquid...
    Alex Lau
    10/30

    BA's Best Molten Chocolate Cake

    A deep chocolate cake with a liquid chocolate center. Many recipes get this effect by purposely undercooking the cake, so that the middle is raw batter. Effective, but not the most delicious. Our version has a spoonful of ganache in the center, which melts as the cake bakes through.

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  • Image may contain Coffee Cup Cup Drink Latte Beverage Saucer and Pottery
    Eva Kolenko
    17/30

    Dark-Chocolate Mousse

    You know what never, ever goes out of style? Chocolate mousse.

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  • Image may contain Plant Confectionery Food Sweets Vegetable Nut Dessert and Chocolate
    Alex Lau
    18/30

    Chocolate Éclairs

    The éclairs will begin to get soggy as soon as they are filled, so be sure to wait until just before you're ready to make the chocolate fondant to add the pastry cream.

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  • Image may contain Creme Cream Food Dessert Ice Cream and Cake
    Jeremy Liebman
    23/30

    Banana Meringue Pudding

    To check if your meringue is stiff, lift the beaters out of the bowl and upend them: The peaks should stick straight up.

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  • Image may contain Food Bread Pizza and Plant
    24/30

    Kouign-Amann

    Though the dough can be temperamental, layer after delicate layer will convince you: Making this pastry is worth the effort.

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As the senior food editor at Bon Appétit, Christina spends her days in the BA Test Kitchen dreaming up recipes for home cooks (Chocolate-Matcha Butter Mochi Cake and Green Curry Lentil Soup are favorites). She also oversees the brand’s digital recipe content, working with freelancers and test kitchen staff to ... Read More
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