From crumbly cakes and pretty pastries to luscious gelato, desserts sydney is home to some truly mouth-watering sweets. Whether you’re in the mood for a creamy passionfruit tart or a Lotus Biscoff sundae, these sweet spots are sure to hit the spot.
Try the insta-worthy Brewtown Newtown cronut (a croissant and doughnut hybrid), or indulge in a creamy aqua blue sea salt soft serve from Aqua S.
Gram Cafe & Pancakes
If you’re looking for a fluffy, spongey stack of pancakes that melts in your mouth, Gram is the place to go. The pancake chain, which first opened in Japan in 2014, now has 60 locations worldwide. The Chatswood Interchange branch has been open for a while, but its sister cafe in The Galeries just opened last week.
Located inside the mall, Gram is a cozy spot that offers plenty of seating and easy parking. The menu includes thick, jiggly souffle pancakes that are made from whipped egg whites and served with toppings like matcha, tiramisu, and honey apple with earl grey cream. Regular, thinner pancakes and unique savory options are also on offer.
Brewtown Newtown
Taking the place of a beloved bookstore that once called the early 20th century building on O’Connell Street home, Brewtown Newtown has become an enviable brunch and coffee destination. Co-owners Simon Triggs and Charles Cameron (who both have experience working at Toby’s Estate and Gnome Espresso in Surry Hill) have given the cafe a serious focus on sustainably sourced specialty coffee, with an upstairs artisan bakery to match.
The cafe is famous for its ‘brewnuts’, a croissant-doughnut hybrid, and serves up a full menu of beautifully presented breakfast and lunch items including wood smoked salmon, squid ink linguine and corned beef hash. The warehouse-type space is minimalist in its fit out, with exposed brick walls and sizeable wooden tables.
Messina
Two years in the making, Messina’s HQ in Marrickville is the one-stop shop for all things dessert. From 35 classic flavours and five rotating specials to gelato cakes, thick shakes that’ll give your straw a workout, and merch that will have you repping the brand in style, it’s all here.
For a real taste of Sicily, order a mezza ca’ panna (half with cream). This type of granita is different to the Catania variant as it’s coarser and less liquid, but still melts in your mouth.
Dulcet Cakes & Sweets
Dulcet Cakes and Sweets is a boutique patisserie cafe that churns out every dessert you can imagine. It’s a great place to try out some of the best cakes in Sydney and its suburbs. You can even order a customized cake for your special occasion.
After the success of their Burwood shop, co-owners Vivienne Li and Juno Zhu have opened this Haymarket location to serve inner city dwellers their delectable creations. The menu is heavy on Asian flavours, like a black-sesame mousse that tastes nutty and tahini-like thanks to high-grade Marukyu Koyamaen matcha powder.
They also make aesthetically-pleasing desserts that will have guests discussing them for years to come. Their cake designs range from three-tiered masterpieces to hyper-realistic designer handbags.
KOI Dessert Bar
Koi is a one-of-a-kind dessert bar in Sydney’s hip inner city suburb of Chippendale. Run by MasterChef 2015 contestant Reynold Poernomo and his brothers, this dessert restaurant is not your average patisserie.
Its eye-catching plated dishes are masterfully made, combining a sophisticated level of fine dining with a touch of playfulness and fantasy. The desserts are not overly sweet and the components complement each other to create a complex flavour experience.
The simplest example is the passionfruit panna cotta that is served in a cute jar. Its luscious coating is so smooth that it almost hurts to cut into it. But once you do, the taste is sublime.
Cow & the Moon
While Newtown locals might queue up for a scoop of Gelato Messina, they also have the option to go to Cow and the Moon. This family-run gelato and coffee bar is internationally award winning, having beaten ice cream artisans across the globe to win the Gelato World Tour in Italy with their almond affogato flavour.
The mouth-watering flavours keep coming and come with a range of toppings and sorbets too. They use tried and tested recipes and regularly enter competitions to keep their skills on point.
Located in the inner west suburb of Enmore, the shop is small and unassuming from the outside. It has brick walls and peeling paint – the kind of place you might walk past without noticing.