The Seattle Dessert Bucket List

Nate Watters

Unlike peach cobbler in Atlanta or the Midwest’s tragically beautiful Snickers salad, there’s no one “Seattle dessert.” Instead, we have 16 that show off a wide range of the city’s many cuisines, as well as a dedication to coconut, ube, and the combination of coconut and ube. These dishes include household names, lesser-known treats that deserve a standing ovation, and a metric ton of cake. If you’re one of those people who claim they “don’t have a sweet tooth,” it’s time to rethink some life choices.

THE DESSERTS

Adam Joseph Wells

Tomo

This heaping mound of Japanese shaved ice quite literally melts in your mouth. Toppings change often, but poke around and you'll frequently find seasonal fruit such as rhubarb or apple hiding within the kakigori’s slopes, which seems as if they should have little figurines skiing on them.

Deru Market image

Deru Market

The giant cake slices from Deru Market have deservedly more lore in this town than the ghosts roaming Pike Place Market. We’re talking mostly about the rich salted peanut butter chocolate flavor, loaded with devil’s food cut by salty-nutty buttercream. You’re welcome to eat there, but everyone knows cake tastes even better from the comfort of your own couch.

Nielsen's Pastries image

Nielsen's Pastries

If you’re only coming to this colorful little Danish bakery for one thing, it’s the Snitter—which sounds a lot like a Quidditch term, but is what would result if a cinnamon roll mated with a cheese danish. Don’t think too hard about the logistics of that. The whole square is custardy, lightly spiced, and perfect with an after-dinner coffee.

Nate Watters

Chuck's Donuts

These maple bars are not just the Seattle area’s finest because they’re the size of a toddler’s forearm, or because the airy dough has a great balance of sugar, yeast, and salt. It’s the topping: a healthy, matte schmear of whipped maple frosting with the texture of extra-thick buttercream. Always nab a dozen, and always come early—because you never know when a wedding party, baseball team, or someone’s best coworker ever has bought the place out.

Hood Famous Cafe & Bar image

Hood Famous Cafe & Bar

If you show any local a photo of these violet swirls and they don’t recognize it, back away slowly. And good news for everyone on this planet—Hood Famous’s mini ube cheesecake is just as delicious as it is adorable, complete with a silky middle and buttery cookie crust. Pair it with the purple-stained iced ube latte for the most iconic of one-two punches.

Nate Watters

Itsumono

No need to dread the end of a fantastic meal at Itsumono when it means you're just that much closer to their sticky toffee mochi. This bouncy cake tastes like kettle corn and childhood nostalgia. Make sure to engineer each bite with a bit of cake, a spoonful of deep, sticky treacle caramel, and a swipe of creamy gelato for the full experience.

Nate Watters

Metropolitan Market

Not to worry, citizens—this walnut-studded grocery store behemoth made the cut. Whether ripped into fresh from the warmers or via a takeout cup of diced hunks, there’s an onslaught of drippy chocolate, a tacky center, roasty nuts, and craggy crunch bits across the top, available at all Metropolitan Market locations across the Greater Seattle Area. Long live The Cookie.

Nate Watters

Deep Sea Sugar & Salt

Birthdays are great and all, but Deep Sea Sugar & Salt’s Funfetti is not exclusively reserved for formalities such as existing another year. If there was ever a reason to pull a “just because” card, it’s this. There’s an abundance of rainbow sprinkles, a touch of almond extract flavor, and the correct type of frosting (cream cheese) spackling the layers together. Look out for Oreo- and raspberry jam-filled spinoffs, too.

Nate Watters

Sacro Bosco

Sacro Bosco is the nighttime pizza operation located inside the inimitable Temple Pastries—so of course the tiramisu is phenomenal. They use thin cakey slabs in lieu of ladyfingers, and the delicate sponge pairs wonderfully with fluffy mascarpone, a jolt of coffee, and cocoa powder. Seattle’s Italian restaurants have nothing on it.

Nate Watters

Hellenika Cultured Creamery

There’s no Seattle yogurt as legendary as Ellenos, and when the family decided to churn the probiotic goods into gelato, something remarkable happened. (It was really good.) The coconut ube flavor in particular is in a league of its own, with a prismatic purple shade, chewy coconut meat, and subtle tang. All other frozen yogurt in town can kick rocks.

Nate Watters

Lioness

It's tempting to load up on burrata and clams at this Phinney Ridge wine bar, but Lioness' desserts are equally important. The dark chocolate cake is a beyond worthy finale to a meal powered by Italian bubbles. Crackle-topped and fudgy, the generous wedge is essentially a brownie that got a doctorate, crowned with a plop of espresso-flecked mascarpone.

Makena Yee

Fisher Scones

Fisher Scones first came to the Washington State Fair in 1915, and we’ve been known to buy an entrance ticket just to pull off a quick “dozen and dash.” The treats are soft and light, but dense enough to soak up a generous swipe of salty whipped butter and tart raspberry jam. Even if you missed the fair, look for mix boxes in grocery stores, trucks parked outside Bellevue Square, you name it—Seattleites will stop at nothing to get their hands on them.

Gabe Guarente

Shug's West Seattle

There are some serious pyrotechnics happening at this retro Norman Rockwellian ice cream shop. Order their classic s’mores sundae and a server will blowtorch the homemade marshmallows right in front of you, giving the dessert a welcome campfire toastiness to complement graham cracker crumbles, vanilla ice cream, and hot fudge. Note that the Pike Place location is closed (moving to a location nearby soon), but the s’mores show continues at the mini West Seattle outpost.

Nate Watters

Salvadorean Bakery And Restaurant

These cakes have been the centerpiece of birthdays, baby showers, and basically any cake-worthy occasion for years. But we like to just pop into the White Center bakery for a single square. It comes topped with glossy slices of kiwi, strawberry, and mango, a layer of delicate whipped cream, and so much condensed milk soaked into the sponge that there may be a fourth leche involved.

Mee Sum Pastry image

Mee Sum Pastry

Hom bow is the obvious Mee Sum order. But look a little closer at the stuffed display case, and you’ll find an enticing green glimmer directing you to the little-known best thing here. These spherical treats are rolled in sesame seeds, giving them a nutty exterior that cracks into stretchy dough made with glutinous rice flour. Inside, the paste is lightly sweet, a little herbal, and so tasty, you should absolutely grab more than one.

Nate Watters

Dahlia Bakery

If one Seattle dessert has acquired celebrity status over the years, it’s this Belltown-born pie, which reportedly counts President Obama among its fans. This thing’s got tufts of cream piled high with a generous helping of toasty coconut flakes on top, coconut in the middle, hints in the crust—well, you get it. White chocolate curls on top add an elegant touch, though there’s something splat-worthy about this thing that begs for a pie-in-the-face prank.

Nate Watters

Cakes Of Paradise

Tricolored symbols in Seattle include navy, teal, and white for the Mariners, or grey, darker grey, and darkest gray for December. The rainbow slice at Hawaiian bakery Cakes Of Paradise is just as recognizable. Flavored with strawberry-guava, lime, and orange-passion fruit layers of alternating sponge and gelée, it’s a burst of tropical pizzazz that somehow makes a girthy block of cake oddly refreshing.