14 Irresistible Desserts Loved by Celebrity Chefs

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For many of us, the best part of dinner comes after the plates are cleared: dessert. Whether it’s a rich slice of chocolate cake or a refreshing spoonful of vanilla ice cream, there’s just something about a sweet treat that makes a meal feel complete. And as it turns out, we’re not the only ones who think so.

Celebrity chefs may spend their days crafting fine dining dishes and judging the world’s best chefs, but when it comes to dessert, they’re just as appreciative of an indulgent treat as the rest of us. Many have even confessed their go-to fast food spots, proving that even the most refined palates crave a little comfort every now and then — and sweets are no exception. From nostalgic childhood favorites to French pastries and decadent cakes, here’s a glance into the desserts celebrity chefs can’t resist.

Gordon Ramsay might be famous for calling flustered cooks “doughnuts” in the kitchen, but when it comes to dessert, his go-to is sticky toffee pudding — and he has the sweetest reason for it too.

In a YouTube episode of Mythical Kitchen’s “Last Meals,” the multi-Michelin star chef revealed the line up he’d choose for his very last meal, with food options spanning from his favorite fast food burger from In-N-Out to sticky toffee pudding. But his love for the dessert isn’t simply about taste. He revealed that it reminds him of his mom. “This was the one dessert go-to that she always did for our special birthdays,” he told host Josh Scherer.

Still, Ramsay’s reasoning isn’t all sentimental. He described the dessert as “absolute heaven,” even joking that he wanted it to be buried with him. Talk about together forever.

Alex Guarnaschelli may be best known for her “Iron Chef” title and her no-nonsense judging on “Chopped,” but if there’s one thing she’s not putting on the chopping block, it’s devil’s food cake.

When it comes to the vanilla versus chocolate debate, celebrity chef Guarnaschelli is firmly team chocolate. And this dessert has a whole lot of it. If you’re unfamiliar, devil’s food cake is a rich cake with a deep chocolate flavor, topped with a delicious chocolate frosting, of course.

Guarnaschelli revealed her love for the decadent cake while chatting with fellow chef Eric Adjepong on an episode of “Alex vs. America.” And she’s not shy about her standards. In a clip posted to Food Network’s X page, Guarnaschelli expressed that the cake has got to taste “chocolatey beyond” in order to be up to par. Paired with a nice side of unsweetened whipped cream, Guarnaschelli’s favorite dessert sounds like the thing of every chocolate lover’s dreams.

From Bobby Flay’s early 2000s show “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” to his more current show “Beat Bobby Flay,” the celebrity chef loves to challenge other chefs in preparing dishes that aren’t always in his comfort zone. But on Season 5 episode 1 of “Throwdown,” a friendly competition became an unforgettable moment as he was introduced to the dessert that would ultimately become his favorite.

The dessert in question? A coconut layer cake. But not just any coconut layer cake. It’s the Ultimate Coconut Cake™. Hailing from Peninsula Grill, a restaurant located in Charleston, South Carolina, the dish is larger than life. Seriously. The dessert is a whopping 12 layers and 13 pounds.

A full cake, which serves 18-20 people, will cost you $270, while a single slice goes for $17. Pricey? Maybe. But if it’s good enough to win over Bobby Flay, perhaps it’s worth it!

“Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro is a lover of many desserts, especially cake. From chocolate lava cake to lemon cake to cassata cake, it seems like he’s tasted (and baked) it all. But, perhaps surprisingly, cake isn’t his number one pick when it comes to eating dessert.

Valastro’s dessert of choice is one he makes himself: a lobster tail. Not the seafood version, of course, but a flaky, Italian pastry which is sold at his beloved Carlo’s Bakery.

For those familiar with Italian pastries, the celebrity baker claims that the lobster tail is similar to sfogliatella. The difference between the two? The filling. While both pastries may boast a similar appearance on the outside, sfogliatella possesses a filling made of ricotta and semolina. Lobster tail, on the other hand, has a creamier filling typically made with pastry cream, whipped cream, and ricotta.

If all this pastry talk has got you craving one, have no fear. You can grab an order of eight from Carlo’s Bakery for just $44.95. At a little more than $5 each, it’s a reasonable price to pay for Valastro’s favorite dessert.

Although raspberry souffle may be Geoffrey Zakarian’s favorite dessert to make, his favorite dessert to eat is an entirely different story. Or stories, rather. As the celebrity chef and “Chopped” judge shared in an Instagram post in 2021, he loves both pavlovas and profiteroles.

For those unfamiliar, pavlova is essentially meringue’s fancy older cousin. Topped with cream and fresh fruit, a pavlova looks just like a meringue except much larger. But don’t get it twisted, the two desserts are quite different. It’s important to note the stark textural difference between the two. Unlike meringues which are crunchy all the way through, pavlovas have a crispy outer shell yet a pillowy soft center — a difference that makes these similar-looking desserts worlds apart.

Profiteroles are a completely different concoction. While profiteroles are often confused for cream puffs since they are both made from choux pastry, the two desserts contain different fillings. Cream puffs consistently stick to a classic pastry cream, but the sky’s the limit with profiteroles. These pastries can be filled with anything from custard to pastry cream to ice cream. With these desserts sounding so delicious, you can’t really blame Zakarian for keeping both at the top of his list.

On his CNN show, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” Anthony Bourdain traveled the globe trying cuisines from nearly every country imaginable. But that didn’t mean that all of the food was his cup of tea — especially when it came to dessert.

“I just don’t like dessert,” Bourdain said in an interview with Publishers Weekly. Bourdain cited his inability to whip up the perfect baked good or pastry as a potential reasoning as to why dessert was a course he always wanted to skip.

Bourdain pointed to crème caramel as one dessert he could actually tolerate. The dish is made with custard and topped with a silky caramel sauce. The dessert, which is similar to flan, held a bit of a nostalgic connection as it was something his mom used to make. Still, given the choice, it’s likely that Bourdain would almost certainly have opted for a post-dinner cheese plate over a slice of cake.

I scream, you scream, Duff Goldman definitely screams for ice cream. The “Ace of Cakes” star may be known for his delicious pastries and ornate cakes, but his favorite dessert doesn’t involve even a second of baking time.

When it comes to sweets, Duff Goldman will pick ice cream over cake every time (although he might make an exception for ice cream cake). But not just any ice cream. Goldman elevates the classic dish with mix-ins and toppings, preferring texture-rich flavors like rocky road or basically any flavor by Ben & Jerry’s.

The celebrity baker also has a fondness for ice cream cones. Even when ordering ice cream in a cup, Goldman always makes sure to order a cone too so he can crush it up and sprinkle it on top. Honestly, that’s a little hack we all might want to put away for safekeeping.

Known for whipping restaurants into shape on “Restaurant: Impossible” and coaching even the most clueless home cooks on “Worst Cooks in America,” Robert Irvine certainly knows his way around a kitchen. While he has a reputation as a no-nonsense TV personality, even Irvine has a sweet tooth.

Staying true to his UK roots, the chef’s favorite dessert is banoffee pie — a British classic. Like its name suggests, banoffee pie is made using bananas and toffee. The dessert is topped with a layer of whipped cream and it’s all laid on top of a buttery biscuit crust. Think banana cream pie but with a caramelized British twist.

While Irvine enjoys the perfect balance of flavors in the indulgent dessert, the appeal goes beyond taste. Like many others on today’s list, Irvine has a sentimental connection to his favorite dessert. As a proud Brit, banoffee pie is reminiscent of the flavors and food of his homeland. And that reason might be even sweeter than banoffee pie itself.

While Paul Hollywood may be best known for his direct critiques and his bread-making expertise on “The Great British Bake Off,” his dessert favorites aren’t exclusive to the United Kingdom. When it comes to American desserts, Hollywood has a clear favorite: doughnuts.

In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, the celebrity baker confessed that doughnuts are his ultimate “weakness.” Although he also noted being a fan of a good slice of Southern apple pie, it’s those sweet rings of deep-fried dough that really take the cake.

It’s safe to say that a trip to the States means a hunt for doughnuts. During his motorcycle trip across the Southern United States, Hollywood admitted that he made it a point to search for a doughnut shop at nearly every stop. And, honestly, who can blame him? No one can resist a good doughnut.

Now, has anyone told Hollywood about Dunkin’? Because a motorcycle trip across the Northeast just might blow his mind.

In the United States, French cooking is basically synonymous with Julia Child. So it’s no surprise that her favorite dessert is a vintage classic hailing from the region in which she dedicated her culinary life to. The dish in question? Île flottante. Safe to say you probably haven’t tried to whip that one up at home before.

Also known as “floating island,” île flottante is a light dessert made with an airy meringue “island” surrounded by a pool of crème anglaise. The French dessert is one that Child discusses in one of her many cookbooks: “Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1.” In her book, Child offers a bit of a twist on the classic cooking method, expressing that while many chefs poach their meringues, she prefers to bake hers. She also notes that some French chefs use meringue while others prefer layer cake. Talk about variation.

Still, regardless of the form, the sweet, delicate dessert is one that Child was incredibly fond of. And the fact that she was able to make it herself? Total culinary flex.

It’s no surprise that Ina Garten’s favorite desserts are ones that she herself has perfected. The “Barefoot Contessa” star revealed during an event that two sweet treats sit at the top of her list: pound cake and dark chocolate tarts.

But Garten doesn’t just stick to tradition when whipping up these desserts. Like any pro baker, she elevates them with her own signature twists. In order to give her pound cake a bit of a flavor boost, Garten adds two special ingredients: lemon zest and Cognac. She reveals the recipe in her 2022 cookbook “Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.”

Her dark chocolate tart also benefits from a bit of culinary creativity. While the rich chocolate tart filling is pretty classic, Garten elevates the crust with an ingredient that used to line grocery store shelves: Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers.Combined with sugar and butter, Garten used these wafers to create the perfect chocolate tart crust. That is, until they were discontinued in 2024. No word yet on what Garten has been using as a substitute. But who knows — perhaps she has something even better in the works.

Out of all of the celebrity chefs featured on this list, David Chang might win the award for most original (and most indulgent) dessert. The dessert in question? Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts and ice cream. Sounds pretty standard until you hear about the preparation process. If you want to try this one at home, listen up — because it takes a bit of work.

For Chang, the preparation of the dessert is everything. On his Netflix show “Dinner Time Live With David Chang,” the Momofuku restaurant owner walks viewers through whipping up his go-to sweet treat which he calls the “greatest dessert in the world.”

The dish starts with Krispy Kreme’s iconic glazed doughnuts. Chang elevates the already delicious fried rings of dough by pan-frying them, adding some extra crunch. Then comes the ice cream, which is served not just on top but also melted underneath. It’s dessert a la mode like you’ve never seen before. For maximum flavor, Chang prefers cereal milk ice cream (specifically from Christina Tosi’s popular bakery Milk Bar).

Chang’s favorite dessert sounds like a dream. Unless you’re lactose intolerant, in which case it might be more of a nightmare.

Lactose-intolerant readers beware. Because Ree Drummond’s favorite dessert has milk right in its name. The “Pioneer Woman” star’s go-to sweet treat is tres leches. She revealed her love for the Latin American dessert in her cookbook, “The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Super Easy!”

Although the dessert’s exact country of origin is a highly debated topic (Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and several other Latin countries have claimed it as their own), Ree Drummond offers her own twist on the classic dessert. Traditionally, tres leches (which translates to “three milks”) is made by soaking sponge cake in a mixture of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk. But Drummond swaps out whole milk for heavy cream,  making the dessert even more decadent.

And if you want to turn things up a notch? She suggests adding a bit of rum for a boozy twist. Sounds like the perfect cocktail party treat.

It’s no mistake that fruit is commonly referred to as “nature’s candy.” And for “Top Chef” winner and “Fast Foodies” host Kristen Kish, it’s every bit as satisfying (if not more) as the store-bought kind.

In an interview with Bravo, Kish revealed that a slice of watermelon in Greece was one of the “greatest” and “most memorable” desserts she has ever had. Biting into a juicy, chilled watermelon slice that had been served over ice was the perfect way to round out a delicious meal. “It can’t get any simpler than that,” Kish expressed fondly.

And Kish isn’t the only celebrity chef to rave over fruit served over ice. Alton Brown shared his fondness for cherries over ice in an Instagram post in 2023, calling the dish the “Best dessert [he’s] had in a long time.”

Turns out some of our favorite celebrity chefs’ favorite desserts don’t require much more than fresh produce and a couple of ice cubes. Definitely a note you may want to save for later the next time you whip up a fruit salad.