When it comes to comfort food, you can't beat an old-school dessert – every spoonful evokes childhood memories and nostalgia for years gone by. Many classic sweet treats have fallen by the wayside in recent years, and we think it's time for these forgotten favourites to make a comeback. Here, we look at some of the lost and legendary desserts we'd love to see back on the menu, counting down to the tastiest of all.
Click or scroll through our gallery of 28 retro desserts that deserve to come back in style. How many have you tried?
We've based our ranking on the enduring popularity of each dessert in its place of origin and beyond, and on the opinions of our well-travelled (and well-fed) team. The list is unavoidably subjective.
Traditionally a breakfast food served with coffee, this molasses-filled dessert is a member of the ‘desperation pies’ family of baked goods – so named for requiring just a few simple ingredients available to bakers back in the day. It was primarily made in Pennsylvania Dutch communities (early versions have been found in cookbooks published at the turn of the 20th century), before it found its way into community and church cookbooks around the US.
After its 1886 invention by pharmacist John Pemberton, Coca-Cola gradually became a pantry staple. Betty Crocker recommended cooking with soda as a handy shortcut – the carbonation helped create light, fluffy textures – and in the 1950s people began using it in cakes. Coca-Cola cake was most likely a Southern US creation, usually featuring a tangy cream cheese frosting to offset the cola syrup’s sweet molasses. Its popularity quickly spread, peaking when it was put on the menu at restaurant chain Cracker Barrel in the 1990s.
It was a rare occasion ambrosia fruit salad didn't appear at a Southern US soiree in the early 20th century, back when citrus fruits were considered a luxury. Sometimes this quick, delicious dish featured a simple serving of sliced pineapples and oranges swimming in whipped cream, while jazzier incarnations included everything from marshmallows to maraschino cherries. Bananas, strawberries, grapes and tinned fruit cocktail are all classic ingredients, too.
Similar to rice pudding and eaten in Europe since Roman times, semolina is a sort of porridge that's baked or boiled with milk or water, then served with sugar, syrup, cinnamon, cocoa powder or fruit. The 4th-century recipe book of Apicius recommends using farina (a form of milled wheat), plus almonds, raisins and raisin wine. Nowadays there’s an instant, powdered version on the market, to which vanilla, cream and spices are often added.
Often made in novelty moulds, wibbly-wobbly blancmange comes in many forms. Having experienced peaks and troughs in popularity, this thick, creamy, gelatine-based dessert was championed by British brand Pearce Duff, which offered a choice of strawberry, raspberry, chocolate and vanilla flavours. Fancy making it at home? Give it a modern twist with fresh raspberries, double cream, ground almonds and rose petals.
Mix crushed Oreos with melted butter to make a crust, fill with a mix of marshmallow, cream, crème de menthe, crème de cacao and whipped cream, and you’ve got yourself an old American favourite: grasshopper pie. This minty no-bake mousse, associated with spring and Easter celebrations in the 1950s and 1960s South, was inspired by the Grasshopper, a chocolate-mint cocktail. Pop the concoction in the fridge until cold, then slice it up and serve. Instant happy hour!
This recipe was featured in cookbook Joys of Jell-O back in the 1960s. An after-dinner showpiece with the intriguing alias of ‘broken glass cake’, crown jewel dessert is made from orange, cherry and lime Jell-O, cut into cubes and folded into a thick lemon cream made from lemon Jell-O and Dream Whip (a branded whipped cream). Sub in semifreddo if you’re not keen on Jell-O – you’ll achieve the same aesthetic.
Nicknamed ‘frogspawn’ by British schoolchildren, and ‘hasty pudding’ by 19th-century cookery writer Isabella Beeton, this pearly curiosity derives from the cassava plant native to Brazil, named tipi'óka in the Tupi language spoken there in the 1700s. Made in many cultures in varying styles, with milk, cream or coconut milk, tapioca was big in early 20th-century America. You can still find tins of it for sale, and we've seen it return with the trend for bubble or boba tea – so a comeback could well be on the cards.
Once commonplace in home kitchens across Quebec, Canadian creation pouding chômeur ('poor man’s pudding' or ‘pudding of the unemployed’), is a simple, rich dessert created during the early years of the Great Depression. A hot syrup of caramel – made from brown sugar, white sugar or maple syrup, or a combination – is poured onto a basic cake batter before baking. The liquid settles at the bottom of the pan as the cake rises, creating a distinct layer at the bottom of the dish. During the hardest times, stale bread was used instead of cake batter.
This old English dessert is made by folding puréed, stewed fruit into custard. It was traditionally made with gooseberries, although apples, strawberries, rhubarb and raspberries would also feature frequently, with more modern recipes favouring whipped cream over custard. The earliest recipe dates to the mid-17th century, when it was thought that fruits should be boiled and pulped to make them safe to eat before being mixed with the cream.
If there's one dessert that can be relied upon to conjure up halcyon images of summer days, it’s the root beer float. Its origin story? Inspired by the snowy peaks of Cow Mountain, which reminded him of ice cream floating in soda, gold mine owner Frank J. Wisner, of Colorado’s Cripple Creek, created exactly that in 1893. He road-tested it in his own tavern, and the rest is history. Serve yours up with crumbled pretzels or brownies for an indulgent treat.
This old-timey number also goes by the names 'dead man’s arm' and 'shirt sleeve pudding', because it was originally steamed in an old shirt sleeve or stocking – but don't let any of that put you off. A traditional, sweet and stodgy British school meal favourite that dates back to the Middle Ages, it sees suet pastry rolled out, covered in fruit jam, rolled up again, then steam-baked, sliced and served with hot custard.
Named after Australian opera star Dame Nellie Melba, this little beauty is a timeless, straightforward dessert of poached peaches and raspberry sauce served with vanilla ice cream. Created by Auguste Escoffier at The Savoy in London at the end of the 19th century, it has gradually disappeared from dessert menus – but you'd be remiss to dismiss it.
Britain’s favourite childhood dish, according to the Food Network cable channel, this UK-produced powder mix, in strawberry, butterscotch, chocolate and banana varieties, creates a mousse when whisked with milk. The brainchild of the Bird’s company, Angel Delight launched with a strawberries-and-cream flavour in 1967, and reached its peak in the 1970s. Popular clay-modelled characters Wallace & Gromit helped to temporarily revive the dessert in 1999, when they featured in an ad campaign.
Why would anyone not want to see the return of the ravishing Charlotte Russe? This picture-perfect, party-ready dessert, first eaten in 18th-century France, made use of stale bread before it became the norm to line the mould with sponge cake or ladyfingers. It enjoyed a second wave of popularity in the early 20th century, with New York's Jewish bakeries favouring a simplified version – a thin square of vanilla sponge, a swirl of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, served in a cardboard cup.
First it was a crime, then it became a cake. Sharing its name with the 1970s political scandal that rocked America (and the world), the Watergate cake typically contained pistachios, pecans, coconut, marshmallows, crushed pineapple, whipped cream and green food colouring. It got its name simply because it was invented at a time when the scandal dominated the news, and the finished article was ‘covered up’ with icing in a nod to President Nixon's nightmare. Apparently, in 1975, so many people were baking Watergate cakes, Washington DC suffered a pistachio shortage.
This one comes straight out of 1950s New Orleans – back when the city was big in the banana importation game. Challenged to invent a dish using the fruits, the chef at iconic local restaurant Brennan’s flambéed them with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, dark rum and banana liqueur, pairing the creation with ice cream. It went down a storm and is still served there today, though we reckon it deserves to be enjoyed far and wide.
The so-called 'forgotten prairie pie’ – custard filling, Graham cracker crust and meringue topping – isn’t made so much today, but it was a staple of Canadian prairie culture in the 1920s. Evolving from the Graham cracker cream pie of the 19th century, it endured during the Depression, too, thanks to its minimal ingredients. Some people would add a shot of whisky or some vanilla, lemon peel or peach leaves to the custard filling.
In 1970s North America, the Harvey Wallbanger (orange juice, vodka and Galliano) burst onto the beverage scene to boost Galliano sales – though some say the cocktail was named after a Los Angeles surfer experiencing a run of bad luck in competitions. Said character was drowning his sorrows and, after a few too many, began banging into the walls of the bar. This boozy doozy of a drink then inspired a citrussy dessert version.
Conjuring memories of kids’ birthday parties as no other culinary creation really can, this one was a bona fide staple in 1980s and 1990s Britain. Delightfully unsophisticated strawberry jelly, gently quivering under a dollop of vanilla ice cream – heaven! Whether or not you've tried this combination before, we reckon it'll transport you back to simpler, carefree times.
To make this extravagant ensemble, whole cherries are cooked in a liqueur (such as brandy), flambéed and served with vanilla ice cream. Legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier, described as ‘the king of chefs and the chef of kings’, is said to have created his trademark dessert for Queen Victoria’s jubilee celebrations in 1887. It truly took off, though, in the US, becoming a restaurant favourite in the 1950s and 1960s. There's even a national Cherries Jubilee Day, celebrated each September, though the dessert itself has fallen off the radar.
This one’s an absolute cracker, and we won’t hear otherwise. It rose in popularity after canned pineapple was introduced into our lives, and magazines and cookbooks caught on to its culinary potential in the early 20th century. While the idea of a fruity upside-down cake was nothing new (they'd been around since the late 1800s, according to food historians), this iteration – with its aesthetically pleasing golden pineapple rings and shiny glacé cherries – hit differently in the 1960s.
Sweet enough to set your teeth on edge, banoffee pie enjoyed its heyday in 1990s America. But, the story goes, this dessert is actually British, invented at The Hungry Monk restaurant (now closed) in East Sussex, England in the 1970s. A buttery biscuit base is key for the foundation of this gooey, sticky gastronomic delight starring sliced bananas, caramel sauce and whipped cream, topped with chocolate shavings.
This fancy French dish is perfect for those who love a fiery dinnertime finale (though caution is advised when trying this one at home). Traditionally prepared tableside, this theatrical dessert is often flambéed in Cointreau, Grand Marnier and brandy, with a sugary orange and butter sauce. It may have come about through the mistake of Café de Paris waiter Henri Charpentier in 1895 as he prepared a sweet for King Edward VII. Others claim the dish refers to French actress Suzanne Reichenberg, who was performing the role of a maid in 1897 and served crêpes on stage – flambéed to grab the audience's attention.
This clever creation is also known as bombe Alaska, omelette surprise, Norwegian/Siberian omelette and, in Hong Kong, flame on the iceberg. To make it, a pie dish is lined with sponge slices, filled with ice cream and topped with browned meringue. You pop it in the freezer and, later, into a hot oven for long enough to firm the meringue but not melt the ice cream. Some say the name originated in 1876 at a New York City restaurant, to mark Alaska becoming a state, while others claim the restaurant's original recipe was called Alaska Florida to highlight the cold and hot nature of the dish.
A product of the Swinging Sixties, the tunnel of fudge cake is a rich, nutty, chocolate-loaded cake made in the shape of a doughnut. Named for the fudgy tunnel that runs through its centre, and responsible for making bundt cakes à la mode, it scooped second prize in 1966 at long-standing American cooking competition the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest (losing to savoury contender, Golden Gate snack bread). It quickly became cake manufacturing brand Pillsbury’s most-requested recipe.
Anyone who hung out at one of America’s soda fountains in the 1950s would've struggled not to succumb to the sweet temptation of the ubiquitous banana split. It's surprising that it’s dropped down the dessert ranks these days, given that it’s so fun and simple to make. Take a banana, halve it lengthways, load it up with ice cream and sauce (keep it traditional with chocolate, strawberry or pineapple), then top with whipped cream, chopped nuts and a cherry.
Why this majestic German creation, widely known as Black Forest gâteau, has fallen out of favour since the 1970s is a mystery. Rightly given gâteau status to elevate it beyond any old cake, this decadent chocolate sponge sandwich – layered with cherries and whipped cream – looks delicious, tastes delicious and is duly deserving of a place on today’s dessert menus, as well as our number one spot. Veritable retro dessert royalty!
Now discover our ranking of the most delicious pies from around the world