Nothing is more delightful than dessert, a sweet finish to a hearty meal. We are lucky to live in a world full of desserts. So learning about dessert ideas will be a real treat for someone with a sweet tooth. In other words, if you love desserts as I do, then this article is for you.
Listed below are all desserts that begin with the letter S. We have divided the list by names to make it easier for you to find them. In addition, we have included short descriptions of each dessert and sections for Italian, German, Mexican, and French desserts.
You can find all of these desserts (or their ingredients) in our local grocery stores, markets, and supermarkets, so you can easily try them all.
Let’s get started!
Desserts that start with S
In the following list, you will find 56 desserts that begin with the letter S, along with their descriptions. Take a look at them all!
Soufflé – A soufflé is a baked egg-based dish that originated in France at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It can be served sweetened as a dessert or savory as the main dish when combined with various other ingredients.
Sponge Cake – Sponge Cake is a dessert made with cake flour (American version) or self-rising flour (European version). Additionally, American sponge cakes do not require butter and have more eggs. The yolks and whites are beaten separately, providing a softer, more delicate texture. They are light and airy due to the air beaten into the eggs.
Sherbet – Sherbet is the typical American spelling for a frozen fruit mixture containing milk, egg white, or gelatin. Sherbet is like an ice cream cousin that is a bit fruitier. The color of this cake is pastel, and the texture is rich and creamy at the same time.
Shortbread – A shortbread biscuit is a traditional Scottish biscuit typically made from white sugar, butter, and plain wheat flour. Compared to many other baked goods, shortbread does not contain leavening agents, such as baking powder or baking soda.
Snickerdoodle – Snickerdoodles are cookies made using butter or oil, sugar, salt, and flour and are rolled in cinnamon sugar after they have been rolled in sugar. In some recipes, eggs are also used as an ingredient, along with the cream of tartar and baking soda.
Soda Bread Pudding – Traditionally, soda bread pudding is a custard-based dessert with a crusty top. However, you can transform pantry items like eggs, sugar, and bread into a decadent dessert in just a few minutes.
Sour Cream Pound Cake – Sour cream pound cake originated in Britain and is a famous American variation on pound cake. Some of the butter is replaced with sour cream to achieve a moister cake with a tangy flavor.
Slump – A slump is a fruit dessert traditional to the east coast of America that combines a pie and a cobbler. One difference is that it is baked in a skillet on a stovetop.
Strawberry Shortcake – Strawberry shortcake is a delicious dessert made with strawberries and cream. A favorite of Americans and a treat for special occasions, it’s one of the best-loved foods you can buy. Food historians believe someone created a strawberry shortcake in the United States around 1847. In 1588, an English cookbook published a recipe for a strawberry shortcake.
Sugar Cookies – A sugar cookie is thought to have originated in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1700s. German Protestant settlers created the round, buttery, crumbly Nazareth Cookie.
Sundae – Sundaes are ice cream desserts that consist of one or more scoops of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup. In addition, sundaes may include sprinkles, whipped cream, marshmallows, peanuts, maraschino cherries, or other toppings.
Sweet Potato Pie – A sweet potato pie is a classic dessert among the African American community in the Southern United States. American holiday seasons often feature it instead of pumpkin pie, which is more traditional in other regions of the country, during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Sonker – Sonker refers to a deep-dish pie with many flavors, such as strawberry, peach, sweet potato, and cherry. The dessert is unique to North Carolina, making it one of a kind.
Sweet Rolls – Sweet Rolls, also known as sweet buns or breakfast rolls, are sweet, yeast-leavened breakfast bread or dessert foods. They are typically glazed or topped with icing and often contain spices, nuts, candied fruits, etc., along with various other ingredients.
S’mores – S’mores are campfire treats consisting of graham crackers and toasted marshmallows sandwiched between layers of chocolate.
Scones – Scones in the United States are sweet and rich. An egg is often added to enrich them, as they’re typically made with heavy cream and butter. As a result, the cookie has a dense, crumbly, and tender texture.
Southern Teacakes – Southern Tea Cakes are buttery sugar cookies, a classic, an old-fashioned cookie that is as beloved as any other.
Sandwich Cake – Sandwich Cake also goes by the name layer cake. The cake comprises multiple stacked layers of cake, held together by frosting, jam, or another filling.
Strawberry Pretzel Salad – Strawberry Pretzel Salad is a dessert consisting of a salty pretzel crust topped with sweet and creamy cream cheese and strawberry Jell-O topped with fresh strawberries.
Shoofly Pie – A shoefly pie is an American pie made with molasses that is associated with Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. A molasses crumb cake related to Jenny Lind pie may have originated with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 1880s. As a breakfast food, it was traditionally served with hot coffee rather than as a dessert pie.
Swiss Rolls – Swiss rolls are rolls of sponge cake wrapped in whipped cream and filled with jam, icing, or whipped cream. This dessert is also known as jelly rolls, roll cakes, cream rolls, roulades, or Swiss logs.
Shave Ice – Shave Ice, also known as Hawaiian shave ice, is an ice-based dessert made by shaving a block of ice and then adding flavor through a syrup and other sweet ingredients.
Seven-Layer Bars – Seven-Layer Bars is a dessert made with a mixture of graham cracker crumbs, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, nuts, and condensed milk. According to reports, Alecia came up with the name.
Southern Pecan Pie – Southern Pecan Pie is a pie made with southern pecans. Throughout the South, pecan trees grow a wide swath from Illinois to Texas. The pecan tree is also found in several other southern states.
Sugar Cream Pie – Sugar Cream Pie originated in Indiana in the early 19th century with Quaker settlers who came from North Carolina and settled in east-central Indiana, particularly in the areas of New Castle, Portland, Richmond, and Winchester.
Seven-Layer Gelatin Salad – Seven-Layer Gelatin Salad is an eye-catching salad that makes a great dessert during Christmas dinners. You can create other color combinations for holidays or events by choosing different flavors.
Stack Cake – Stack Cake, also known as apple stack cake, consists of stacked cakes layered with filling. Cast iron skillets are traditionally used for making cakes, but you can also bake them.
Squiche – Squiche, also known as sweet quiche, has become the newest trend to hit the brunch table. Again, there are similarities to custard tarts, but this one is less sweet and has more density than a savory quiche.
Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler – Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler is a popular dessert with peach pie filling, cake mix, and butter. This dessert is topped with walnuts for an extra texture and flavor. Once it’s done cooking, you can scoop it out into a bowl, top it with ice cream, and enjoy!
Scotcheroos – Scotcheroos are bars made with chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, and Rice Krispies. Iowa, mainly, is a popular place to buy them.
Smith Island Cake – Smith Island Cake is a dessert that resembles the Prinzregententorte. Usually, it consists of 8 to 15 layers of chocolate frosting alternating with thin layers.
Sopaipilla – Sopaipilla is a Spanish delicacy described as a type of fried bread popular in the Americas.
Strawberry Delight – Strawberry Delight has become popular in the South and more rural Minnesota areas. It comes with a graham cracker crust containing strawberries, cream cheese, whipped topping, and strawberry gelatin.
Snickers Salad – Snickers Salad consists of Snickers bars, Granny Smith apples, whipped cream, pudding, and or whipped topping, and all served in a bowl. Some churches include it in their cookbooks.
Stump de Noel – Stump de Noel is a gorgeous holiday dessert inspired by the classic and elegant French bûche de Noël. The dessert is called such because it resembles a log).
Shaker Lemon Pie – Shaker Lemon Pie, or Ohio Lemon Pie, is a sweet fruit pie famous in the Midwestern United States.
Sponge Fingers – Sponge Fingers, called ladyfingers in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, are dry, sweet, egg-based, low-density sponge cake biscuits in the shape of a giant finger.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake – Sour Cream Coffee Cake is a popular dessert that began after World War II. In America, pasteurization became widespread after World War I, practically eliminating old-fashioned homemade naturally-fermented dairy products. Sour cream was added to a variety of baked goods, including coffee cake, due to American innovation.
Italian desserts that start with S
Sanguinaccio dolce – Sanguinaccio dolce consists of pig’s blood cooked in cream and sweetened with chocolate, milk, pine nuts, raisins, and sugar. Carnevale, the feast day before Lent, is traditionally marked by the preparation of this dish in Naples. Local variations include serving it warm and runny for dipping or allowing it to set up and become a pudding or cake in other regions of Italy.
Semifreddo – Semifreddo refers to a class of frozen desserts. In addition to egg yolks, sugar, and cream, there are other ingredients. The texture is similar to that of frozen mousse. Its Spanish counterpart is semifreddo. Around the turn of the 20th century, it was created. It did not become famous until the early 20th century, however.
Sfinge – Sfinge is Maghrebi doughnuts: spongy, light rings fried in oil. It can be eaten plain, sprinkled with sugar, or soaked in honey. Traditionally, it is made and sold early in the morning for breakfast or in the afternoon with tea – usually Maghrebi mint tea – or coffee.
Sfogliatella – A Sfogliatella, referred to as lobster tails in the US, is an Italian pastry with a shell-shaped filling and originated in Campania. As the pastry’s texture resembles stacked leaves, Sfogliatella means “small, thin leaf or layer.”
Spumoni – Spumoni consists of layers of different flavors and colors, usually containing candied fruits and nuts. It usually consists of three flavors, separated by a fruit/nut layer. There is often whipped cream mixed in between the layers of ice cream. Typical flavors include cherry, chocolate, and vanilla, and the fruit/nut layer often contain cherry bits, resulting in red/pink, green, and brown colors.
Struffoli – Struffoli, or Honey Balls, are Neapolitan sweet dough balls deep-fried. Many Italian sweet treats are made with this dough, such as Chiacchiere. Balls of dough about the size of marbles are formed from the dough for Struffoli. A mound or ring of Struffoli, coated with honey and other sweet ingredients, is crunchy and light on the inside.
Sugoli – Sugoli is made by slowly cooking red grapes with flour and sugar and then letting them cool. If you want to preserve the Sugoli, you can either serve it cold as a pudding or preserve it in a jar as a jam. Northern Italians usually eat this dessert for dessert.
German desserts that start with S
Schneeball (pastry) – A Schneeball or Schneeballen consists of shortcrust pastry and is particularly popular in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The name came from its round shape, and its traditional decoration of white confectioner’s sugar. Storchennest (stork’s nest) is another name for it.
Schokokuss – Schokokuss consists of a sweetened egg-white foam topped with chocolate. In the past, the name of this dessert was derived from the color of black people’s skin.
Spaghettieis – Spaghettieis, also known as spaghetti ice cream, is a German dish resembling spaghetti. An extruder modified to make Spätzle presses or potato ricers is used to extrude vanilla ice cream. The strawberry sauce is topped with coconut flakes, grated almonds, or white chocolate shavings instead of parmesan cheese.
Spekulatius – Spekulatius consists of spiced shortcrust biscuits. They are usually served at Christmas or other special occasions in Indonesia, known as Spekulaas or Spekulaaskoekjes.
Springerle – Springerles are South German cookies or biscuits that have an embossed design made by pressing a mold onto rolled dough and allowing it to dry before baking. The surface pattern is preserved in this way. History shows springerle were baked during all seasons but are primarily associated with Christmas because of historical molds.
Spritzgebäck – Spritzgebäck is a type of European Christmas biscuit composed of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. The cookies will be crisp, fragile, somewhat dry, and buttery if prepared correctly.
Spritzkuchen – Spritzkuchen is a deep-fried pastry similar to a doughnut, often made of a cut of dough in the center which allows it to be pulled over and through itself, creating twists in the pastry. Some Spritzkuchen styles are made from a denser dough, similar to cake doughnuts, but are not always twisted. You can apply a powdered sugar or icing topping to Spritzkuchen.
Stollen – Stollen consists of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar and often contains marzipan. Germans eat it during the Christmas season during a period called Weihnachtsstollen (after the German word for Christmas, Weihnachten) or Christstollen (after Christ).
Streusel – Traditionally, streusel is baked on muffins, bread, pies, and cakes as a crumbly topping. Spices and nuts are sometimes added to modern recipes. Besides layering or ribboning, the mixture can also be used as a filling in the middle of a cake.
Streuselkuchen – Streuselkuchen, or crumb cake, is a yeasted cake covered with a sweet crumb topping called streusel. Sugar, butter, and flour are mixed in a 1:1:2 ratio for the crumbs. Recipes for this dish originate in Silesia, and it is popular in Ashkenazi Jewish, German, and Polish cuisines.
Mexican desserts that start with S
Sopaipilla – Sopaipillas are fried pastries and quick bread typical in areas of Spanish heritage in the Americas. It is traditionally made with leavened wheat dough and shortening, such as butter. The pieces are then deep-fried in oil, sometimes after they have risen before frying, causing them to puff up and form hollow pockets.
French desserts that start with S
Soufflé – Soufflés are egg-based baked dishes that originated in France in the early eighteenth century. You can enjoy it as a savory main dish or a sweet dessert when combined with other ingredients. A souffle is the past participle of the French verb souffler, which describes something that is blown, inflated, or puffed.
Desserts that start with a different letter of the alphabet
Resources
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