✔ Updated · 91 desserts, sorted by category
Desserts that start with N include nougat, Napoleon cake, New York cheesecake, Nanaimo bars, Neapolitan ice cream and no-bake cookies.
This list goes much further, with cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, frozen treats, pastries, candy and sweets from India, Iran, Japan, the Philippines and Latin America. Every entry is a real, named dessert with a short note on what it is and where it comes from, sorted by category so the right one is easy to find.
Desserts that start with N, from everyday favorites to rare finds. The most popular:
Cakes That Start With N
Layer cakes, cheesecakes and coffee cakes that start with N.
Napoleon Cake
A tall Russian and Eastern European cake of many thin, flaky puff pastry layers stacked with vanilla pastry cream and topped with crumbs.
New York Cheesecake
A dense, rich baked cheesecake made with plenty of cream cheese, a little sour cream and a graham cracker crust.
No-Bake Cheesecake
A set cheesecake made with whipped cream cheese and sugar on a cookie crust, chilled in the fridge instead of baked in the oven.
Get the recipe →New York Crumb Cake
A buttery yellow coffee cake topped with a thick layer of big cinnamon-sugar crumbs, dusted with powdered sugar.
Neapolitan Cake
A layer cake with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry sponge stacked together, copying the stripes of Neapolitan ice cream.
Nectarine Upside-Down Cake
A butter cake baked over sliced nectarines and brown sugar caramel, then flipped so the glossy fruit sits on top.
Nectarine-Blueberry Cake
A simple summer snacking cake studded with sliced nectarines and fresh blueberries, often finished with a sugar crust.
Norwegian Success Cake
Suksessterte, a Norwegian almond meringue base covered in a rich egg-yolk butter cream, served at birthdays and holidays.
Nusskuchen
A moist German nut cake made with ground hazelnuts or walnuts, usually baked in a loaf or ring pan and glazed with chocolate.
Nutmeg Cake
An old-fashioned butter cake flavored generously with freshly grated nutmeg, sometimes finished with a brown sugar or buttermilk glaze.
Cookies & Bars That Start With N
Cookies, bars and brownies that start with N.
Nanaimo Bars
A Canadian no-bake bar with a chocolate, coconut and graham crumb base, custard-flavored butter icing and a chocolate top.
No-Bake Cookies
Chocolate peanut butter oatmeal drops cooked on the stovetop and left to set, a classic American lunchbox and bake-sale cookie.
Nutella Brownies
Fudgy brownies made with chocolate hazelnut spread, either swirled through the batter or used as the main chocolate base.
Get the recipe →Nutty Brownies
Classic chewy chocolate brownies loaded with chopped walnuts or pecans for crunch in every square.
Nutmeg Logs
Small log-shaped American Christmas cookies flavored with nutmeg and topped with a rum-flavored butter frosting and more nutmeg.
Neapolitan Cookies
Sliced icebox cookies made from three layers of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry dough pressed together and chilled.
Nürnberger Lebkuchen
Soft spiced gingerbread from Nuremberg, Germany, rich in nuts and candied peel and baked on thin wafers, often glazed or chocolate-coated.
Nonnettes
Small round spiced honey cakes from Dijon, France, filled with orange marmalade and finished with a thin sugar glaze.
Navettes de Marseille
Hard, boat-shaped cookies from Marseille flavored with orange blossom water, traditionally eaten at Candlemas in early February.
Nocciolini di Canzo
Tiny crisp hazelnut cookies from Canzo in Lombardy, Italy, made with just hazelnuts, sugar and egg whites.
Nussecken
German nut corners: shortbread triangles spread with apricot jam, topped with caramelized hazelnuts and dipped in dark chocolate.
Nucatoli
Sicilian Christmas cookies made from soft pastry filled with dried figs, nuts, honey and citrus, often topped with icing and sprinkles.
Nepitelle
Half-moon Christmas cookies from Calabria, Italy, filled with a mix of raisins, walnuts, figs, chocolate and spices.
Nzuddi
Chewy almond cookies from Catania, Sicily, flavored with cinnamon and orange and topped with a whole almond.
Nevaditos
Crumbly Spanish shortbread cookies made with lard or butter and dusted heavily with powdered sugar, especially at Christmas.
Pies, Tarts & Cobblers That Start With N
Pies, tarts, galettes and baked fruit desserts that start with N.
Norman Tart
Tarte normande, an apple tart from Normandy, France, with sliced apples set in a creamy egg and almond custard.
Neenish Tart
An Australian tart of sweet pastry filled with mock cream or jam and topped with half pink or white and half chocolate icing.
Norfolk Tart
An English treacle tart variation from Norfolk, made with golden syrup, butter, cream and eggs for a softer, custardy filling.
Nantucket Cranberry Pie
A crustless American dessert of fresh cranberries and walnuts covered with a buttery, almond-scented batter that bakes into a crisp top.
Nesselrode Pie
A New York pie from the mid-1900s with a fluffy chiffon filling flavored with chestnuts, candied fruit and rum, topped with chocolate shavings.
Nusstorte
Engadiner Nusstorte, a Swiss tart of buttery pastry wrapped around a thick filling of caramelized walnuts and cream.
Nectarine Pie
A double-crust summer pie filled with juicy sliced nectarines, sugar and a little spice, similar to peach pie but tangier.
Nectarine Tart
A pastry shell filled with frangipane or pastry cream and topped with fanned slices of fresh or roasted nectarines.
Nectarine Galette
A rustic free-form tart made by folding pie dough loosely around sliced nectarines and baking until golden and bubbling.
Nectarine Cobbler
Baked sliced nectarines under a soft biscuit or batter topping, served warm, often with vanilla ice cream.
Nectarine Crisp
Baked nectarines under a crunchy topping of oats, brown sugar, flour and butter, an easy summer fruit dessert.
Puddings & Custards That Start With N
Puddings, custards and spoon desserts that start with N.
Natillas
A Spanish and Latin American stirred custard of milk, eggs and sugar flavored with cinnamon and lemon; Colombian natilla is a firmer Christmas version.
Nesselrode Pudding
A rich 19th-century frozen pudding made with chestnut puree, cream, candied fruit and raisins, named for a Russian count.
Noodle Kugel
A sweet Jewish baked pudding of egg noodles in a custard of eggs, cottage cheese and sour cream, often with raisins and cinnamon.
New Orleans Bread Pudding
A soft, custardy bread pudding made with French bread and raisins, served warm with a buttery whiskey or rum sauce.
Nelson Squares
A traditional Irish and English bake of leftover cake or bread soaked with dried fruit and spices, baked between pastry and cut in squares.
Nottingham Pudding
An old English dessert of cored apples filled with butter and sugar, baked in a light batter similar to Yorkshire pudding.
Nicuatole
A traditional Oaxacan dessert of ground corn, milk and sugar cooked until thick, set in molds and often dyed pink on top.
Nyponsoppa
Swedish rose hip soup, a sweet fruit soup served warm or cold as a dessert, often with whipped cream and small almond biscuits.
Nimish
A delicate North Indian winter dessert of milk whipped into a light foam overnight, flavored with saffron and sugar and eaten at dawn.
Frozen Desserts That Start With N
Ice creams, sorbets and shaved ice that start with N.
Neapolitan Ice Cream
A block or carton of ice cream with side-by-side stripes of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, named after Naples, Italy.
Nice Cream
A dairy-free soft-serve style treat made by blending frozen ripe bananas until smooth, sometimes with cocoa, berries or peanut butter.
No-Churn Ice Cream
Homemade ice cream made by folding whipped cream into sweetened condensed milk and freezing it, with no ice cream machine needed.
Nougat Glacé
A French frozen dessert of whipped cream and Italian meringue folded with honey, nougatine and candied fruit, sliced and served with fruit sauce.
Nocciola Gelato
Italian hazelnut gelato made from roasted hazelnut paste, one of the classic flavors in every Italian gelateria.
Nieve de Garrafa
A Mexican hand-churned sorbet or ice cream spun in a metal canister set in ice and salt, made in fruit and milk flavors.
Nectarine Sorbet
A smooth, dairy-free frozen dessert of pureed ripe nectarines, sugar and lemon juice with a bright, tangy summer flavor.
Nam Kaeng Sai
Thai shaved ice topped with sweet syrup and condensed milk over toppings like palm seeds, jellies, red beans and jackfruit.
Pastries That Start With N
Pastries, sweet breads and crepes that start with N.
Nun's Puffs
Light, hollow choux puffs, called pets de nonne in French, fried or baked and dusted with sugar or filled with cream.
Nid d'Abeille
French bee's nest cake from Alsace: a soft brioche topped with honey-almond crunch and filled with pastry cream, like German Bienenstich.
Napoleonshat
A Danish pastry of shortcrust folded into a three-cornered hat around a ball of marzipan, with the base dipped in chocolate.
Nut Roll
A sweet yeast dough rolled around a ground walnut or poppy seed filling, a Christmas and Easter favorite across Central Europe.
Nusschnecken
German nut snails: spirals of soft yeast dough filled with ground hazelnuts, sugar and cinnamon, then glazed with apricot or icing.
Nusszopf
A Swiss and German braided yeast loaf filled with a sweet hazelnut paste, sliced and eaten with coffee.
Nalesniki
Thin Polish crepes rolled or folded around a sweet farmer cheese filling, often served with fruit, jam or sour cream.
Nutella Crêpes
Thin French-style crepes spread with chocolate hazelnut spread and folded, a street-food favorite often served with banana or strawberries.
Nectarine Scones
Tender cream scones studded with chopped fresh nectarines and vanilla bean, finished with coarse sugar on top.
Nut Bread
A sweet quick bread or loaf cake packed with chopped walnuts or pecans, sliced and served with butter or coffee.
Candy & Confections That Start With N
Candies and confections that start with N.
Nougat
A chewy or firm confection of whipped egg whites, honey and sugar packed with roasted almonds or pistachios; Montélimar nougat is famous.
Nougatine
A crunchy French confection of caramelized sugar and sliced or chopped almonds, rolled thin and used for decorations or eaten as candy.
Nut Brittle
Hard, glassy candy made by cooking sugar to caramel and stirring in nuts like peanuts, almonds or pecans before breaking it into pieces.
Nonpareils
Small flat chocolate drops covered in tiny white sugar sprinkles, a classic movie theater and candy store treat.
Nama Chocolate
Japanese fresh chocolate: soft squares of rich ganache made with cream, dusted with cocoa powder and kept chilled.
New Orleans Pralines
Creamy Southern candies of brown sugar, butter, cream and pecans, cooked and spooned into flat rounds to set.
Nut Clusters
Bite-size clusters of peanuts, almonds or cashews bound with melted chocolate or caramel and left to set.
Noghl
Persian candy of almond slivers coated in hard sugar, often flavored with rosewater and served at weddings and Nowruz.
Nabat
Persian rock candy made of large sugar crystals, often flavored with saffron and stirred into hot tea.
Nerds
Tiny, crunchy, tangy candy pebbles sold in colorful boxes, among the best-known American candies that start with N.
International Desserts That Start With N
Desserts from Asia, the Middle East, India and Latin America that start with N.
Nankhatai
Indian shortbread cookies made with flour, ghee, sugar and cardamom, crisp outside and melt-in-the-mouth inside.
Nian Gao
Chinese sticky rice cake eaten at Lunar New Year, sweetened with brown sugar and steamed, then often sliced and pan-fried.
Nata de Coco
A chewy, translucent jelly made by fermenting coconut water, first produced in the Philippines and used in halo-halo and fruit salads.
Nerikiri
Japanese wagashi sweets made from white bean paste and rice flour dough, shaped into delicate flowers and seasonal designs for tea.
Nuomici
Soft Chinese glutinous rice balls filled with sweet peanut, sesame or red bean paste and rolled in shredded coconut.
Nai Wong Bao
Fluffy Cantonese steamed buns filled with a sweet, golden egg custard, a favorite at dim sum.
Nyonya Kuih
Colorful bite-size Peranakan cakes from Malaysia and Singapore, made with rice flour, coconut milk, pandan and palm sugar.
Nilupak
A Filipino dessert of boiled cassava or saba banana pounded with butter, sugar and condensed milk, then shaped and topped with cheese or coconut.
Namoura
A Lebanese semolina cake made with yogurt and coconut, topped with almonds and soaked in sugar syrup after baking.
Nan-e Berenji
Persian rice flour cookies flavored with rosewater and cardamom, topped with poppy seeds and baked for Nowruz.
Nan-e Nokhodchi
Small clover-shaped Persian cookies made from roasted chickpea flour, cardamom and butter, crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth.
Nan-e Gerdooee
Flourless Persian walnut cookies made with egg yolks, sugar and chopped walnuts, crisp outside and chewy inside.
Narkel Naru
Bengali sweet balls of grated coconut cooked with jaggery or sugar and cardamom, made for festivals like Durga Puja.
Nolen Gur Sandesh
A Bengali sweet of fresh chhena cheese flavored with winter date palm jaggery, pressed into molds.
Nei Appam
Kerala fritters made from rice flour, jaggery and banana, fried in ghee in a special pan and offered at temples.
Nariyal Barfi
An Indian fudge made by cooking grated coconut with sugar and milk or condensed milk, cut into squares.
Nachni Ladoo
Indian sweet balls made from roasted finger millet flour, jaggery, ghee and nuts, popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Nuégados
Salvadoran fritters made from yuca or corn dough, deep-fried and soaked in a warm syrup of panela, especially during Lent.
Did You Know?
- Nanaimo bars are named after the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and need no baking at all.
- Neapolitan ice cream, with its stripes of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, is named after Naples, whose ice cream makers brought layered molded ices to America in the 1800s.
- Nesselrode pudding was named for the Russian diplomat Count Karl Nesselrode, whose chef created the chestnut dessert in the early 19th century.
- Nian gao means year cake in Chinese and sounds like higher year, so eating it at Lunar New Year is said to bring growth and success.
Quick List: All 91 Desserts That Start With N
Handy for alphabet games, quizzes and Scattergories. The full list, A to Z:
Nabat, Nachni Ladoo, Nai Wong Bao, Nalesniki, Nam Kaeng Sai, Nama Chocolate, Namoura, Nan-e Berenji, Nan-e Gerdooee, Nan-e Nokhodchi, Nanaimo Bars, Nankhatai, Nantucket Cranberry Pie, Napoleon Cake, Napoleonshat, Nariyal Barfi, Narkel Naru, Nata de Coco, Natillas, Navettes de Marseille, Neapolitan Cake, Neapolitan Cookies, Neapolitan Ice Cream, Nectarine Cobbler, Nectarine Crisp, Nectarine Galette, Nectarine Pie, Nectarine Scones, Nectarine Sorbet, Nectarine Tart, Nectarine Upside-Down Cake, Nectarine-Blueberry Cake, Neenish Tart, Nei Appam, Nelson Squares, Nepitelle, Nerds, Nerikiri, Nesselrode Pie, Nesselrode Pudding, Nevaditos, New Orleans Bread Pudding, New Orleans Pralines, New York Cheesecake, New York Crumb Cake, Nian Gao, Nice Cream, Nicuatole, Nid d'Abeille, Nieve de Garrafa, Nilupak, Nimish, No-Bake Cheesecake, No-Bake Cookies, No-Churn Ice Cream, Nocciola Gelato, Nocciolini di Canzo, Noghl, Nolen Gur Sandesh, Nonnettes, Nonpareils, Noodle Kugel, Norfolk Tart, Norman Tart, Norwegian Success Cake, Nottingham Pudding, Nougat, Nougat Glacé, Nougatine, Nucatoli, Nun's Puffs, Nuomici, Nusschnecken, Nussecken, Nusskuchen, Nusstorte, Nusszopf, Nut Bread, Nut Brittle, Nut Clusters, Nut Roll, Nutella Brownies, Nutella Crêpes, Nutmeg Cake, Nutmeg Logs, Nutty Brownies, Nuégados, Nyonya Kuih, Nyponsoppa, Nzuddi, Nürnberger Lebkuchen
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular dessert that starts with N?
Nougat, Napoleon cake, New York cheesecake and Neapolitan ice cream are the most popular desserts that start with N. In Canada, Nanaimo bars are a national favorite, and in the US, no-bake cookies are a classic.
What is a Napoleon dessert?
A Napoleon is a layered pastry of crisp puff pastry and vanilla pastry cream, also called mille-feuille. In Russia and Eastern Europe, Napoleon cake is a tall version with many thin pastry layers covered in cream and crumbs.
What are Nanaimo bars made of?
Nanaimo bars have three layers: a no-bake base of graham crumbs, coconut, nuts and cocoa, a middle of custard-flavored butter icing, and a top of melted chocolate. They come from Nanaimo, British Columbia.
What is the difference between nougat and nougatine?
Nougat is chewy or firm and made with whipped egg whites, honey and nuts. Nougatine has no egg whites; it is caramelized sugar mixed with almonds that sets hard and crunchy, like a thin brittle.
What are some easy desserts that start with N?
Easy desserts that start with N include no-bake cookies, no-bake cheesecake, nice cream, no-churn ice cream, Nutella brownies and nectarine crisp. None of them needs special skills, and several need no oven at all.
More desserts by letter:
