Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

Green Almond Pantry

The perfect chocolate cake? It’s the simple yet elegant “almost flourless” version at this Georgetown Mediterranean cafe and market. Made with Valrhona 70-percent chocolate, the cake is light yet decadent and just sweet enough. If a slice isn’t sufficient, order a whole cake in advance.

Honey Toast

Magnolia Dessert Bar & Coffee

Sorry, but the camera eats first at this Thai dessert destination. Here, honey toast is essentially a sundae overflowing from a honey-and-butter-glazed mini loaf of brioche with ice cream, macarons, whipped cream, and truffles. There are no wrong choices with flavors such as Nutella, matcha, and Pocky strawberry.

Cannoli With Grapefruit

2 Amys

When you serve some of the best pizza in the city, everything else can get overlooked. But don’t skip the cannoli, which, like the rest of the menu, embrace top-notch ingredients prepared with beautiful simplicity. Of course the shells are handmade, but the secret ingredient is candied grapefruit zest, which adds a little extra “oooh!” to the creamy ricotta.

Matcha Soft-Serve

Bon Tea House

This Japanese teahouse specializes in all things matcha, from lattes to limeades. But frankly, it’s the matcha soft-serve that makes the place a destination. We’re purists, but you can also get it swirled with seasonal flavors like roasted walnut or sakura. Can’t make it to Centreville? Bon Tea House also sells pints of matcha ice cream at Rice Market (1608 14th St., NW).

Bingsoo

Shilla Bakery

These Korean bakeries are filled with sweet buns, milk bread, pastries, and adorable animal-shaped cakes. They’re also a go-to destination for bingsoo, the Korean shaved-ice dessert with fruits, mochi, condensed milk, and other goodies. Flavors range from tiramisu to red bean to strawberry. Pro tip: The individual cup size is packaged perfectly for a refreshing on-the-go treat.

Yuzu-Blueberry Croissant

Petite Cerise

We’ve all fallen for Instagram thirst traps that pop on your phone but are a letdown in person. Luckily, the gone-viral stuffed circular croissants at this Shaw French dining room taste as good as they look. Executive pastry chef Carmelo Gil’s standout creation comes topped with a torched cowlick of meringue, and the flaky pastry hides tangy pockets of yuzu curd and blueberry jam.

Rachel’s Chocolate Cake

Ellie Bird

Pastry chef Rachel Sherriffe, a veteran of New York’s vaunted Jean Georges, is a layer slayer. Her classic chocolate devil’s-food cake is interspersed with slatherings of black-tea caramel, then enrobed in a chai buttercream scented with cardamom, nutmeg, and clove. Go for the optional scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Olive-Oil Cake

Thompson Italian

Katherine Thompson has been making this surprisingly light, not-at-all-bitter olive-oil cake since her days working in well-regarded New York Italian kitchens more than a decade ago. What makes it stand out: perfectly placed flakes of Maldon salt, Madeira-spiked raisin marmalade, and a tuft of tangy crème fraîche mousse. Have a slice at the restaurants or order a whole cake for your next shindig.

Chocolate Sichuan Ice Cream

Queen’s English

Sometimes the simplest things can bring the greatest pleasure. Take the chocolate ice cream at this Hong Kong–inspired Columbia Heights dining room: It’s made from great Belgian chocolate and cream steeped with red and green peppercorns, which impart the barest hint of a burn. It’s accented with whipped cream flavored with elderflower, flakes of Maldon salt, and smile-inducing rainbow sprinkles. Another cute touch—it’s served in a red takeout cup set on a gold doily.

Butterscotch Budino

Grazie Nonna

The inspiration for this salty-sweet pudding? Take a hint from the restaurant’s name—it’s co-owner Casey Patten’s grandma, who made a similar dessert every Sunday, no matter the weather or occasion. The ingredients are straightforward—cream, brown sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, sea salt—but the result is extraordinarily delicious.

Coconut Crunch Cake

Almeda*

“Every component of this cake is crafted to be delicious on its own,” says Danielle Harris, chef/owner of this tiny Afro-fusion place in Petworth. She credits pastry chef Chinnell Watson with creating the whole assembly, centered around a mini Bundt sponge cake finished with coconut fudge. Sound too sweet? That’s where the crunch comes in. There’s a hint of raspberry powder—made from grinding dehydrated berries with lemon zest—in shards of chocolate sprinkled on top, along with toasted coconut flakes.

*This restaurant closed August 31.

Grand Marnier Soufflé

L’Auberge Chez François

Delicate soufflés, with their time-sensitive batters and long wait times, can feel like a dying art. But not at this bucolic bastion of old-school French cuisine, which has been using late founder François Haeringer’s recipe for 48 years (and even that’s a tweaked version of a recipe from Haeringer’s pastry-chef uncle, who worked with Escoffier). The hot, impossibly light desserts come in four flavors, the best of which is perfumed with orange liqueur. At the table, the sugar-dusted confection is pierced with a spoon and filled with vanilla custard sauce.

Brown-Butter Bourbon Bread Pudding

Puddin’

One of Union Market’s most enduring food stalls is this New Orleans–inspired counter from chef/owner Toyin Alli. She serves just one dessert—paper cups of fluffy bread pudding—and the dish is a destination in itself. Alli’s secret is in the balance of flavors: salty, sweet, and seriously boozy.

OMG Bar

Baked & Wired

You most likely know this tiny, 23-year-old bakery for its famous cupcakes, which are huge and colorful and draw long lines. Our treat of choice is a bit more understated. Imagine a s’more compacted into non-messy bar form and constructed with the best ingredients you could find—a fat housemade marshmallow; thick, perfectly bittersweet ganache; a subtle streak of caramel; and a buttery graham-cracker crust.

Honey Semifreddo

Lutèce

Here’s one for those who love both a cheese plate and dessert. At this Georgetown dining room with Parisian vibes, pastry chef Isabel Coss serves a not-too-sweet honey semifreddo with crispy honeycomb candy. Our favorite part: It’s generously topped with big shavings of nutty, 18-month-aged Comté cheese. Best of both worlds.

Durian Mousse

Moon Rabbit

You either love durian or you hate it. But even detractors will be converted by the modern Vietnamese dessert at this Penn Quarter hot spot. Pastry chef Susan Bae tames the funkiness of the tropical fruit by cooking it down, then infusing it with white chocolate for a mousse. Passionfruit granita adds some brightness, while fresh dill brings out the floral notes.

The Big Apple Custardwich

Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats

This nostalgic shop specializes in the area’s best Wisconsin-style frozen custard. You can get it in shakes, floats, and sundaes, but if you’re really going to treat yourself—which you obviously should—go for “The Big Apple.” Creamy custard is stuffed into the middle of a freshly baked apple-cider doughnut with a drizzle of housemade caramel on top.

Olive-Oil Gelato With Cocoa Crumble

Happy Ice Cream

Former Komi pastry chef Ben Brunner scoops a daily rotation of cheffy ice-cream flavors at Happy Ice Cream, part of Gemini wine shop and eatery. This staple combines the fruitiness of high-end, Southern Italian olive oil with the creaminess of Pennsylvania dairy. Layered in between: a sweet-salty cocoa crumble made with three types of bittersweet chocolate and cocoa nibs. Grab a sourdough cone on the patio or a pint to go.

Guava Turnover

Ellē

This daytime cafe/destination dining room helped kick-start the Mount Pleas­ant food scene. Its morning-pastry case changes, but a few things have stuck around from the beginning, including the guava-filled pastries that chef Lizzy Evelyn has been making for more than a decade, first at Room 11. Evelyn’s cream-cheese dough turns rich and flaky when it’s baked, and spills with guava jam at first bite.

Pie

Bread Furst

It’s impossible to pick just one favorite flavor of pie at Mark Furstenburg’s standard-setting bakery in Van Ness. Summery peach or blueberry? Creamy lemon (above), capped with a thick layer of burnished meringue? Perfectly flaky apple? We’ll take a slice of each.

Bomboloni

Osteria Morini

Consider bomboloni Italy’s fancy version of doughnut holes. Pastry chef Lloyd Cruz’s spherical sweets at this waterfront Italian restaurant possess a tender lightness thanks to ricotta, while citrus zest adds a zippy subcurrent. Use the mini squeeze bottles to drizzle on seasonal sauces, such as mint chocolate or summery peach jam.

Campfire S’mores Flambeado

Ometeo

This sprawling Tex-Mex spot’s bountiful sundae merges two of our favorite childhood desserts: s’mores and fried ice cream. Here, orbs of toasted-marshmallow ice cream are coated in graham crackers and cornflakes, then deep-fried and served with cinnamon meringue and chili-spiked chocolate sauce. One very adult upgrade: It’s set on fire at the table using a mix of tequila and rum.

Coconut-and-Jaggery Crème Brûlée

Tamashaa

At this vibrant new palace of Indian cooking in Columbia Heights, executive chef Manoj Goel riffs on traditional, often indulgent, dishes. His crème brûlée has the deep molasses flavor of jaggery (unrefined South Asian cane sugar) and the tropical savory-sweetness of coconut. It’s Goel’s take on payasam, a festive Indian pudding, but he adds textural contrast with a shatteringly crisp burnt layer.

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Trending Desserts

Five desserts that are everywhere right now

Posset

This smooth pudding (or, historically, drink) is made with milk or cream that’s been curdled with alcohol or an acid such as lemon juice, and sweetened.

Find it at: The Inn at Little Washington (309 Middle St., Washington, Va.), which flavors its version with pawpaw in a nod to George Washington–the Mid-Atlantic fruit is said to have been his favorite.

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Affogato

Just a shot of espresso poured over (usually) vanilla gelato–as elegant and simple as an Armani pantsuit.

Find it at: Aventino (4747 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda), which uses housemade–and vanilla-free–fior di latte gelato to show off the flavor of the milk it’s made with.

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Pavlova

Meringue lovers, this one’s for you. Here, a crunchy, soft-on-the-inside slab of it is piled with whipped cream and fruit.

Find it at: Neutral Ground (6641 Old Dominion Dr., McLean), where the meringue has a whiff of black pepper and is spooned with blueberries and tarragon-lime cream.

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Semifreddo

DC’s dessert of the sum­mer. The make-ahead egg-and-cream confection is lighter–and less cold–than ice cream, with a mousse-like texture and endless opportunities for flavor improv.

Find it at: Tosca (1112 F St., NW), which serves a pistachio version with raspberries and white chocolate.

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Fancy Soft-Serve

This ain’t Carvel. But no matter how innovative chefs get with flavors and adornments, a swirl still feels nostalgic.

Find it at: Albi (1346 Fourth St., SE), which offers dainty dishes of tart labneh soft-serve with pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and sea salt.

This article appears in the September 2024 issue of Washingtonian.