✔ Updated · 140 desserts, sorted by category
Desserts that start with S include strawberry shortcake, s'mores, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, sundaes, sorbet, sponge cake and sticky toffee pudding.
S is one of the biggest letters for sweets, so this list covers cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, frozen treats, pastries and candy, plus favorites from India, the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Poland and Peru. Every entry is a real, named dessert with a short note on what it is and where it comes from, sorted by category.
Desserts that start with S, from everyday favorites to rare finds. The most popular:
Cakes That Start With S
Layer cakes, coffee cakes and sponges that start with S.
Sponge Cake
A light, airy cake leavened mostly by whipped eggs, the base for jelly rolls, trifles and many layer cakes.
Sachertorte
A dense Viennese chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam under a glossy dark chocolate glaze, served with whipped cream.
Swiss Roll
A thin sponge cake spread with jam or cream and rolled into a spiral, also called a jelly roll.
Strawberry Shortcake
Sweet biscuits or sponge split and filled with sugared fresh strawberries and whipped cream, an American summer classic.
Get the recipe →Strawberry Cake
A pink layer cake flavored with strawberry puree or gelatin, usually with strawberry cream cheese frosting.
Spice Cake
A moist cake warmly flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, often finished with cream cheese frosting.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
A tender, rich coffee cake made with sour cream and layered with a cinnamon, brown sugar and nut streusel.
Simnel Cake
A British Easter fruitcake with a layer of marzipan inside and eleven marzipan balls on top for the apostles.
Stack Cake
An Appalachian cake of thin molasses or sorghum layers stacked with spiced dried apple filling and left to soften.
Smith Island Cake
Maryland's state dessert: eight to ten very thin yellow cake layers stacked with fudgy chocolate frosting.
St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake
A flat St. Louis cake with a yellow cake base and a sticky, sweet butter and cream cheese topping dusted with sugar.
Sock-It-To-Me Cake
A Southern sour cream Bundt cake with a ribbon of cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans through the middle.
Savarin
A French ring-shaped yeast cake soaked in rum syrup and filled with whipped cream and fruit; it contains alcohol.
Sand Cake
Sandkuchen, a German pound cake made partly with starch for a fine, delicate, sandy crumb.
Sad Cake
A Southern brown sugar cake with coconut and pecans that sinks in the middle as it cools, giving a chewy center.
Seed Cake
A traditional British teatime sponge flavored with caraway seeds, popular since Victorian times.
Sultana Cake
A light, buttery fruit cake packed with sultanas, or golden raisins, often with a little lemon zest.
Swedish Princess Cake
Prinsesstårta: sponge layers with raspberry jam, vanilla custard and a dome of whipped cream covered in green marzipan.
Sockerkaka
A simple, fluffy Swedish sponge cake baked in a fluted pan and served with coffee.
Santiago Cake
Tarta de Santiago, a Galician almond cake decorated with the cross of Saint James stenciled in powdered sugar.
Sbrisolona
A crumbly almond and cornmeal cake from Mantua, Italy, broken into pieces by hand rather than sliced.
Streuselkuchen
A German yeast sheet cake covered in a thick layer of buttery crumb topping.
Cookies & Bars That Start With S
Cookies and bar desserts that start with S. Snickerdoodles are the cookie I bake most.
Shortbread
A rich Scottish cookie of butter, sugar and flour, baked until pale and crumbly and cut into fingers or rounds.
Snickerdoodles
Soft, chewy American sugar cookies made with cream of tartar and rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking.
Get the recipe →Sugar Cookies
Simple butter and sugar cookies, either soft drop cookies or rolled, cut into shapes and decorated with icing.
Spritz Cookies
Buttery Christmas cookies pressed through a cookie press into wreaths, stars and trees, from Germany and Scandinavia.
Speculaas
Crisp Dutch and Belgian spiced cookies stamped with patterns in wooden molds, eaten around Saint Nicholas Day.
Springerle
German anise cookies embossed with detailed pictures from carved wooden molds, dried overnight before baking.
Stroopwafels
Dutch cookies of two thin waffles sandwiched with caramel syrup, often warmed on top of a cup of coffee.
Sablés
Round French butter cookies from Normandy and Brittany with a delicate, sandy texture.
Sand Tarts
Thin, crisp Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas cookies topped with cinnamon sugar and a pecan or almond half.
Snowball Cookies
Buttery, crumbly nut cookies rolled into balls and coated in powdered sugar so they look like snowballs.
Sesame Seed Cookies
Sicilian and Italian-American cookies, called reginelle, rolled in toasted sesame seeds for a nutty crunch.
Seven-Layer Bars
Layered bars of graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate and butterscotch chips, coconut and nuts.
Scotcheroos
Midwestern no-bake bars of crisp rice cereal and peanut butter topped with melted chocolate and butterscotch.
Stained Glass Cookies
Cut-out butter cookies with windows of melted hard candy that set into clear, colorful glass.
Spitzbuben
German and Swiss jam sandwich cookies with a cut-out top so the red jam shows through.
Sandbakkels
Norwegian almond butter cookies pressed into fluted tins, baked at Christmas and sometimes filled.
Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
Tex-Mex bars of crescent dough layered with sweet cream cheese, topped with cinnamon sugar and honey.
Pies, Tarts & Cobblers That Start With S
Pies, cobblers and fruit desserts that start with S. Strawberry shortcake is my favorite fast summer dessert.
Sweet Potato Pie
A Southern custard pie of mashed sweet potatoes, butter, sugar and spices, a soul food holiday classic.
Shoofly Pie
A Pennsylvania Dutch pie with a gooey molasses bottom and a crumb topping.
Strawberry Pie
Fresh whole strawberries set in a glossy strawberry glaze in a baked pie shell, topped with whipped cream.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
A sweet-tart spring pie of strawberries and rhubarb under a lattice or crumb topping.
Sugar Cream Pie
Indiana's state pie: a simple custard of cream, sugar, butter and vanilla, dusted with nutmeg.
Sour Cherry Pie
A classic lattice-topped pie made with tart cherries, such as Montmorency, for a bright, tangy flavor.
Slab Pie
A large, flat pie baked in a sheet pan, easy to cut into squares for a crowd.
Saskatoon Berry Pie
A Canadian prairie pie made with Saskatoon berries, which taste like blueberries with a hint of almond.
Sawdust Pie
A Kentucky pie with a chewy filling of graham cracker crumbs, coconut and pecans, served with banana and cream.
Shaker Lemon Pie
An Ohio Shaker pie made with whole, paper-thin lemon slices soaked in sugar overnight, baked between two crusts.
Sour Cream Raisin Pie
A Midwestern custard pie of sour cream and plump raisins, topped with meringue.
Sonker
A deep-dish fruit cobbler from Surry County, North Carolina, served with a sweet milk sauce called dip.
Slump
A New England dessert of fruit stewed on the stovetop with dumplings steamed on top, also called a grunt.
Strawberries and Cream
Fresh strawberries served with cream and sugar, the traditional dessert of the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
A Southern potluck dessert of salty pretzel crust, sweet cream cheese layer and strawberry gelatin with fruit.
Puddings & Custards That Start With S
Puddings, soufflés and spoon desserts that start with S.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
A British sponge made with chopped dates, drenched in hot toffee sauce and served with cream or custard.
Spotted Dick
A British steamed suet pudding studded with currants or raisins, served with custard.
Sponge Pudding
A light British steamed or baked sponge, often topped with jam, golden syrup or treacle and served with custard.
Semolina Pudding
A creamy pudding of semolina cooked in milk with sugar, often served with a spoonful of jam.
Soufflé
A French baked dessert of flavored custard lightened with whipped egg whites, rising high and served at once.
Summer Pudding
A British dessert of bread lining a bowl, filled with summer berries and pressed overnight until soaked through.
Syllabub
An old English dessert of whipped cream with lemon and sugar, traditionally flavored with wine or sherry.
Sago Pudding
A pudding of tiny sago pearls cooked in milk or coconut milk until soft and creamy.
Sweet Potato Pudding
A spiced pudding of grated or mashed sweet potato baked with sugar, milk and butter, loved in the Caribbean and the South.
Get the recipe →Snow Pudding
An old New England dessert of lemon gelatin whipped with egg whites until fluffy, served with custard sauce.
Sussex Pond Pudding
A British suet pudding with a whole lemon, butter and sugar inside that melt into a buttery lemon sauce.
Salzburger Nockerl
An Austrian sweet soufflé baked in three golden peaks that represent the hills around Salzburg.
Frozen Desserts That Start With S
Ice creams, sorbets and shaved ice that start with S. I can’t resist a sundae bar at a party.
Sorbet
A smooth, dairy-free frozen dessert made from fruit puree or juice and sugar syrup.
Sundae
Scoops of ice cream topped with sauce such as hot fudge or caramel, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry.
Spumoni
A molded Italian ice cream of layered flavors, usually cherry, pistachio and chocolate, with candied fruit and nuts.
Semifreddo
An Italian half-frozen dessert of whipped cream and eggs, sliced from a loaf mold with a soft, mousse-like texture.
Sherbet
A fruity frozen dessert with a little milk or cream, creamier than sorbet but lighter than ice cream.
Snow Cones
Crushed ice packed into a paper cone and drenched in colorful flavored syrups.
Shave Ice
Hawaiian ice shaved as fine as snow and topped with tropical syrups, often over ice cream and sweet azuki beans.
Soft Serve
Light, smooth ice cream with air whipped in, served straight from a machine in swirls on a cone.
Stracciatella Gelato
Italian milk gelato with fine shards of chocolate, created in Bergamo in the early 1960s.
Strawberry Ice Cream
Pink ice cream made with fresh or roasted strawberries, one of the classic flavors in Neapolitan ice cream.
Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Rich ice cream made with deeply cooked caramel and a little salt for a sweet and salty flavor.
Spaghettieis
German spaghetti ice cream: vanilla ice cream pressed into strands over cream, topped with strawberry sauce and white chocolate.
Pastries & Doughnuts That Start With S
Pastries, doughnuts and sweet breads that start with S.
Strudel
An Austrian pastry of paper-thin stretched dough rolled around a filling, most famously apple with cinnamon and raisins.
Scones
Lightly sweet British baked quick breads, served split with clotted cream and jam for afternoon tea.
Sopapillas
Puffy pillows of fried dough from New Mexico, served hot and drizzled with honey.
Sfogliatella
A shell-shaped Neapolitan pastry of many crisp, thin layers filled with sweet ricotta, semolina and candied orange.
Stollen
A German Christmas fruit bread packed with dried fruit and nuts, often with a marzipan center, coated in powdered sugar.
Sticky Buns
Soft cinnamon rolls baked over a layer of caramel and pecans, then turned out so the sticky topping is on top.
Schneeballen
Snowballs from Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany: strips of pastry shaped into a ball, fried and dusted with sugar.
Semla
A Swedish cardamom bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream, eaten before and during Lent.
Struffoli
Neapolitan Christmas dessert of tiny fried dough balls coated in honey and decorated with colorful sprinkles.
Sufganiyot
Round jelly doughnuts fried in oil and dusted with sugar, eaten in Israel during Hanukkah.
Sfinci
Sicilian fried puffs filled with sweet ricotta cream and candied fruit, made for Saint Joseph's Day.
Saffron Buns
Swedish lussekatter, S-shaped yellow saffron buns with raisins, baked for Saint Lucia Day on December 13.
Schaumrollen
Austrian cream horns of flaky puff pastry wrapped around a mold and filled with sweet meringue cream.
Smultringer
Norwegian cardamom-scented cake doughnuts, crisp outside and soft inside, made at Christmas.
Skolebrød
Norwegian school bread: soft cardamom buns with a custard center, iced and sprinkled with coconut.
Candy & Confections That Start With S
Candies and confections that start with S.
Sesame Seed Candy
Crunchy brittle of toasted sesame seeds bound in honey or caramelized sugar, made across Asia and the Middle East.
S'mores
A campfire treat of a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate pressed between two graham crackers.
Get the recipe →Salt Water Taffy
Soft, chewy pulled taffy in many flavors, made famous on the boardwalk of Atlantic City in the 1880s.
Sugar Plums
Old-fashioned holiday sweets of chopped dried fruit, nuts and spices rolled into balls and coated in sugar.
Scottish Tablet
A crumbly, grainy Scottish candy of sugar, butter and condensed milk, firmer and sweeter than fudge.
Sponge Candy
Crunchy, airy honeycomb toffee coated in chocolate, a famous specialty of Buffalo, New York.
Sugared Almonds
Whole almonds coated in a hard pastel sugar shell, also called Jordan almonds, given as wedding favors.
Sugar Mice
British fondant candies shaped like mice with string tails, a traditional Christmas stocking treat.
Sherbet Lemons
British lemon-flavored hard candies with a fizzy sherbet powder center, sold loose in jars in sweet shops.
Salted Caramels
Soft, chewy caramels made with butter and cream and finished with flaky sea salt.
Saltine Toffee
Saltine crackers baked under a layer of buttery toffee and melted chocolate, then broken into pieces.
Salame di Cioccolato
Italian chocolate salami: a no-bake log of chocolate and broken cookies dusted with powdered sugar and sliced.
Indian Desserts That Start With S
Indian sweets, or mithai, that start with S.
Shrikhand
A creamy Maharashtrian and Gujarati dessert of strained yogurt sweetened with sugar and flavored with saffron and cardamom.
Shahi Tukda
A royal Mughlai dessert of fried bread soaked in sugar syrup and topped with thickened sweet milk and nuts.
Sheer Khurma
A festive pudding of fine vermicelli cooked in milk with dates, nuts and cardamom, made for Eid.
Sandesh
A delicate Bengali sweet made from fresh chhena cheese and sugar, pressed into decorative molds.
Soan Papdi
A flaky, melt-in-the-mouth Indian sweet of chickpea flour, ghee and sugar pulled into fine strands and cut into cubes.
Sooji Halwa
A quick Indian pudding of semolina roasted in ghee and cooked with sugar, water or milk and cardamom.
Shakarpara
Crunchy Indian snacks of sweet dough cut into diamonds and fried, made for Diwali.
Sohan Halwa
A dense, chewy sweet from Multan made with sprouted wheat, ghee and sugar, studded with nuts.
Sabudana Kheer
An Indian pudding of tapioca pearls cooked in milk with sugar and cardamom, often eaten during fasts.
Asian Desserts That Start With S
Desserts from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines that start with S.
Sesame Balls
Chinese fried glutinous rice balls coated in sesame seeds and filled with red bean or lotus seed paste.
Snow Skin Mooncake
A no-bake mooncake with a soft, chilled glutinous rice skin, made in many colors and flavors for Mid-Autumn Festival.
Sago Gula Melaka
A Malaysian pudding of sago pearls served with dark palm sugar syrup and coconut milk.
Shuangpinai
Cantonese double-skin milk pudding from Shunde, a silky steamed milk custard with a skin on top.
Sorbetes
Filipino street ice cream, nicknamed dirty ice cream, sold from carts in flavors like ube, cheese and mango.
Suman
Filipino glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in banana or palm leaves, eaten with sugar or mango.
Sapin-Sapin
A colorful Filipino layered rice cake of glutinous rice and coconut milk, topped with toasted coconut curds.
Sans Rival
A Filipino cake of crisp cashew meringue layers stacked with French buttercream and chopped cashews.
Sakura Mochi
Pink Japanese rice cakes filled with sweet red bean paste and wrapped in a salted cherry leaf, eaten in spring.
Sata Andagi
Okinawan deep-fried doughnut balls made with eggs and sugar, crunchy and cracked outside and cakey inside.
Songpyeon
Korean half-moon rice cakes filled with sesame, honey or beans, steamed on pine needles for Chuseok.
Sangkhaya
Thai coconut custard sweetened with palm sugar, often steamed inside a whole pumpkin and served in slices.
Sarawak Layer Cake
A Malaysian butter cake from Sarawak baked in many colorful layers that form detailed patterns when sliced.
Seri Muka
A Malaysian two-layer kuih with a base of glutinous rice and a top of green pandan custard.
Spekkoek
A Dutch-Indonesian thousand-layer cake richly spiced with cinnamon, clove and cardamom, baked one layer at a time.
International Desserts That Start With S
Desserts from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America that start with S.
Somlói Galuska
A Hungarian trifle of sponge cake, walnuts, raisins and custard, topped with chocolate sauce and cream; often contains rum.
Szarlotka
A Polish apple cake of tart apples baked between layers of sweet shortcrust or under a crumb topping.
Sholeh Zard
A Persian saffron rice pudding scented with rosewater and cardamom, decorated with cinnamon and almonds.
Sütlaç
Turkish rice pudding, often baked in clay dishes until the top browns, served cold with cinnamon.
Sericaia
A Portuguese egg and milk pudding from Alentejo, baked until cracked and traditionally served with Elvas plums.
Suspiro Limeño
A Peruvian dessert of creamy milk caramel topped with a port-flavored meringue; it contains a little alcohol.
Sfenj
Moroccan ring doughnuts, crisp outside and airy inside, sold fresh at street stalls with sugar or honey.
Seadas
Sardinian fried pastries filled with fresh cheese and lemon zest, drizzled with warm honey.
Sfouf
A Lebanese semolina cake colored golden with turmeric and topped with pine nuts or almonds.
Syrniki
Ukrainian and Russian farmer cheese pancakes, pan-fried and served with sour cream, jam or honey.
Sernik
A Polish baked cheesecake made with twaróg cheese, often with raisins or a chocolate topping.
Did You Know?
- Sachertorte was created in Vienna in 1832 by 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher, for a dinner hosted by Prince Metternich.
- The first printed s'mores recipe appeared in a 1927 Girl Scouts guidebook, under the name Some More.
- Smith Island cake, with eight to ten thin layers of yellow cake and chocolate frosting, has been the official state dessert of Maryland since 2008.
- Sugar cream pie, sometimes called Hoosier pie, became the official state pie of Indiana in 2009.
Quick List: All 140 Desserts That Start With S
Handy for alphabet games, quizzes and Scattergories. The full list, A to Z:
S'mores, Sablés, Sabudana Kheer, Sachertorte, Sad Cake, Saffron Buns, Sago Gula Melaka, Sago Pudding, Sakura Mochi, Salame di Cioccolato, Salt Water Taffy, Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Salted Caramels, Saltine Toffee, Salzburger Nockerl, Sand Cake, Sand Tarts, Sandbakkels, Sandesh, Sangkhaya, Sans Rival, Santiago Cake, Sapin-Sapin, Sarawak Layer Cake, Saskatoon Berry Pie, Sata Andagi, Savarin, Sawdust Pie, Sbrisolona, Schaumrollen, Schneeballen, Scones, Scotcheroos, Scottish Tablet, Seadas, Seed Cake, Semifreddo, Semla, Semolina Pudding, Seri Muka, Sericaia, Sernik, Sesame Balls, Sesame Seed Candy, Sesame Seed Cookies, Seven-Layer Bars, Sfenj, Sfinci, Sfogliatella, Sfouf, Shahi Tukda, Shakarpara, Shaker Lemon Pie, Shave Ice, Sheer Khurma, Sherbet, Sherbet Lemons, Sholeh Zard, Shoofly Pie, Shortbread, Shrikhand, Shuangpinai, Simnel Cake, Skolebrød, Slab Pie, Slump, Smith Island Cake, Smultringer, Snickerdoodles, Snow Cones, Snow Pudding, Snow Skin Mooncake, Snowball Cookies, Soan Papdi, Sock-It-To-Me Cake, Sockerkaka, Soft Serve, Sohan Halwa, Somlói Galuska, Songpyeon, Sonker, Sooji Halwa, Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars, Sopapillas, Sorbet, Sorbetes, Soufflé, Sour Cherry Pie, Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Sour Cream Raisin Pie, Spaghettieis, Speculaas, Spekkoek, Spice Cake, Spitzbuben, Sponge Cake, Sponge Candy, Sponge Pudding, Spotted Dick, Springerle, Spritz Cookies, Spumoni, St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, Stack Cake, Stained Glass Cookies, Sticky Buns, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Stollen, Stracciatella Gelato, Strawberries and Cream, Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Ice Cream, Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Strawberry Shortcake, Streuselkuchen, Stroopwafels, Strudel, Struffoli, Sufganiyot, Sugar Cookies, Sugar Cream Pie, Sugar Mice, Sugar Plums, Sugared Almonds, Sultana Cake, Suman, Summer Pudding, Sundae, Suspiro Limeño, Sussex Pond Pudding, Swedish Princess Cake, Sweet Potato Pie, Sweet Potato Pudding, Swiss Roll, Syllabub, Syrniki, Szarlotka, Sütlaç
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular dessert that starts with S?
Strawberry shortcake, s'mores, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles and sundaes are among the most popular desserts that start with S. Sticky toffee pudding, sorbet, sponge cake and sweet potato pie are also big favorites.
What is the difference between sorbet and sherbet?
Sorbet is made only from fruit or juice and sugar, with no dairy. Sherbet adds a small amount of milk or cream, which makes it creamier than sorbet but still much lighter than ice cream.
What is sticky toffee pudding made of?
Sticky toffee pudding is a moist sponge cake made with chopped dates soaked in hot water, covered in a hot toffee sauce of butter, brown sugar and cream. It is usually served warm with vanilla ice cream, cream or custard.
What is a snickerdoodle?
A snickerdoodle is a soft American sugar cookie made with cream of tartar, which gives it a slight tang and chewy texture, then rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking so the tops crackle.
What are some easy desserts that start with S?
Easy desserts that start with S include s'mores, strawberries and cream, sundaes, scotcheroos, saltine toffee, seven-layer bars and strawberry pretzel salad. Most need little baking or none at all.
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