Best indulgent dessert recipes

Indulgent dessert ideas

Oven-baked treacle sponge

Make this absolute hug-in-a-bowl British pudding, with lots of fresh lemon zest to cut through the sweet, gooey sponge. Perfect for a Sunday lunch dessert.

Sticky toffee self-saucing pudding

A glorious mash-up of two favourite puds, this rich recipe is the perfect weekend winter warmer.

Classic tiramisu

Whip up our smart, authentic version of this classic Italian dessert, made with mascarpone, marsala and savoiardi biscuits soaked in coffee and Tia Maria.

Self-saucing caramel-coconut pudding

Once this pudding goes in the oven, the dense, coconut-crumbed top rises to the surface while a molten, vanilla-scented caramel sauce is created underneath. Plenty more self-saucing recipes here.

Whisky caramel and banana self-saucing pudding

Add a splash of booze to this dessert for extra indulgence! Ready in under an hour, this comforting pud magically creates its own sauce and is best served warm with a dollop of ice cream.

Sticky toffee pudding

Let warming spices and a rich toffee sauce (made with homemade cashew cream) do the talking with this vegan sticky toffee pudding recipe.

Chocolate and peanut caramel tart

This is a chocolate lovers dream especially if you love a classic snickers chocolate bar too. Go nuts over our decadent chocolate tart with crumbly peanut pastry. Plenty more chocolate recipes here.

Hot cross bun bread and butter pudding

Got leftover hot cross buns to use up? Make this ramped up version of a hearty British classic, perfect for easy entertaining.

Mucky-mouth slab pie

So-called because of the staining you get from the deeply purple fruit. Using frozen fruit means you can make this comforting pudding any time of the year. Adding soft cheese to the pastry gives it a scone-like texture.

Dark chocolate and passion fruit cheesecake

Check out our chocolaty, no-bake cheesecake recipe with a quick passion fruit coulis. This decadent dessert is really impressive and only takes 40 minutes to make.

Black forest meringue tower

Impress friends and family over the festive season with our stunning black forest meringue tower. This gorgeous Christmas dessert is filled with dark chocolate ganache, boozy cherries and mascarpone cream. Pure indulgence!

Baileys tiramisu trifle

Check out our stunning trifle recipe with boozy Baileys, chocolate swiss roll and lightly whipped cream with espresso. Make this indulgent dessert for an impressive centrepiece at your Christmas Day feast.

Speculoos cheesecake

Check out our indulgent cheesecake recipe with crunchy speculoos biscuits, creamy speculoos biscuit spread, and lightly whipped cream. This impressive dessert will serve up to 16 guests - an easy way to finish your next dinner party.

Pear and brioche bread and butter pudding

Impress your friends and family with this moreish pear pudding. This dessert should be on the custardy side rather than bready. You may need to push the brioche under the egg mix at the start to make sure it is completely covered. Check out our best bread and butter pudding recipes here.

Salted caramel and pecan cheesecake pots

Check out our cheesecake pots with salted caramel and crunchy pecans. These mini cheesecakes are simple to make and perfect for a quick and easy dessert to end your dinner party.

Russet and rum tarte tatin

Check out our showstopping tarte tatin recipe with russet apples, flaky puff pastry and dark rum. This impressive pudding may take a bit of time to make but it's well worth the wait.

Peargazy patchwork pie

Check out this impressive pear pie recipe with sugar-topped flaky pastry. This easy dessert is packed with vibrant chunky rhubarb and seasonal pears, a perfect family pudding.

Butterscotch banoffee tart

Check out this creamy chocolate tart recipe with juicy bananas, salted caramel and old school butterscotch Angel Delight. Impress your friends and family with this super indulgent dessert.

Salted butterscotch popcorn cheesecake

Salted caramel is a really popular food trend, and this cheesecake recipe from Rosie Birkett has a salted butterscotch twist. It's a real showstopper and everyone will love it. If you want to make this ahead, omit the popcorn from the base, reserve half the butterscotch sauce for the topping and put freshly popped popcorn on the top of the cake on the day, then smother it in the sauce. Try our other cheesecake recipes here.

Black bottom pie

This recipe for Southern pie by Felicity Cloake owes its name to its rich, dark cocoa base and chocolate custard, topped with a rum mousse and a cloud of whipped cream. Pure indulgence, Dixie style

Sunken Nutella cake with Baileys cream

This indulgent sunken Nutella cake with Baileys cream is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, plus, it's easy to make

Hawksmoor’s Ambassador's Reception

Inspired by a hazelnut-studded chocolate from the 80s, this show-stopping pud is one of the best-sellers at the Manchester and Knightsbridge branches of steak-lovers restaurant, Hawksmoor. You'll need half sphere silicone baking moulds for these, available from amazon.co.uk

Dulce de leche cheesecake

This recipe for dulce de leche cheesecake comes from Lobos tapas bar in Borough market. It's feels really indulgent and is the perfect way to end a meal.

Raspberry marshmallow cheesecake

This fun pudding is made from a digestive biscuit base, topped with fresh raspberries and finished with a fluffy marshmallow and soft cheese topping. It’s easy to make, but you need to plan ahead as it requires overnight chilling.

Louisiana bourbon bread pudding

Bread pudding is a New Orleans staple with most restaurants serving a version of it. It’s like our bread and butter pudding, and it’s usually served with a ‘hard’ boozy sauce.

Pain au choc bread and butter pudding

This is a real show stopping dessert but it's incredibly easy to make. You can make this indulgent pud with croissants, but then you’d miss out on that extra chocolate hit. We have plenty more chocolate pudding recipes here.

Toffee-banana tart

Banana and toffee is a classic flavour combination. Try it in this impressive-looking, delicious, sticky tart and serve it with a decadent toffee cream for extra indulgence.

Drunken monkey bread

Sweet enriched bread dough doused in a sticky bourbon sauce – what's not to love? Serve it warm so it pulls into individual pieces easily.

Boozy knickerbocker glory

Nothing says summer quite like our boozy knickerbocker glory with Pimm's jelly. This will be a hit with adults and kids. Dip the wafer in icing or melted chocolate, then in sprinkles, if you like

Bourbon biscuit brownies

What's better than a chocolate Bourbon biscuit? Chocolate Bourbon brownies! This is one of our favourite recipes of 2016 - trust us, you'll need to make a double batch

Chocolate fondant fancies

Not just for children, here’s a deliciously adult version of a tea-time favourite. Rich chocolate cake squares are topped with an indulgent truffle and smothered in double chocolate icing.

Mojito cake

Soak light and airy sponges in a mojito-infused sugar syrup, then cover with a zingy lime buttercream. Our mojito cake is an absolute stunner! Recipe created by olive reader Joanne Middleton.

Chocolate and burnt butterscotch layer cake

This deliciously indulgent, grown-up chocolate and burnt butterscotch cake looks really impressive and is definitely worth the effort

Tom Kerridge's brioche treacle tart

This is Tom Kerridge's twist on a family favourite. Brioche is a really simple edition, but it makes a richer version of this British classic that everyone will enjoy.

Maltesers chocolate chiffon cake

Chiffon cake is notoriously tricky, but with our recipe you can make the light, fluffy sponge in under two hours. The Maltesers give a fun twist. Thank you olive reader Sarah Howe for the recipe!

Passion fruit self-saucing pudding

You LOVED our lemon self-saucing pudding. So what will you think of our passion fruit self-saucing pudding? It's such a rewarding bake, and one that all the family will want seconds of

Malted milk and caramel ice-cream pie

This malted milk and caramel ice-cream pie is a great, easy, make-ahead dessert that everyone will love. It will keep for up to a week, wrapped in clingfilm in the freezer