25 Delightful Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Mother's Day Treat the mother figure in your life to fruity sorbets, rich chocolate cakes, and layered delights this Mother's Day. By Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann is an editor, baker, and confectioner with more than 15 years of experience in content creation, recipe development, and pastry production. She's obsessed with the fine details and ingredients that take dishes from tasty to outright otherworldly. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on April 29, 2026 Add Us On SAVE ALL RECIPES NEW! Save as a collection on MyRecipes Close Credit: Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen A homemade dessert is a delicious way to share your love and gratitude after a delicious Mother’s Day dinner — especially for moms who have a sweet tooth. For chocolate lovers, Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse Cake would be the clear winner. Rocky Road Brownies are great for baking ahead and transport easily. Whether you want a striking pound cake, or to highlight seasonal fruit, or even to go nostalgic with ice cream sandwiches, here is an array of Mother’s Day dessert ideas to make your mom's day sweet. Keep all of your recipes at your fingertips. With the MyRecipes app you can easily save and organize your favorites from anywhere, including Instagram and TikTok, in one convenient place. Get the free app. 01 of 25 Angel Food Cake with Three-Berry Compote Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle Toss strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries with lemon juice and sugar to turn this snowy white angel food cake into a springtime dessert perfect for savoring with Mom. Be sure to serve the berries warm or at room temperature for the best flavor. Get the Recipe Save 02 of 25 Banoffee Pie Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Priscilla Montiel This salty-sweet take on the classic British pie from cookbook author Jessie Sheehan calls for an easy graham cracker crust, homemade dulce de leche, sliced bananas, and a pile of lightly salted whipped cream. Get the Recipe Save 03 of 25 Pandan and Coconut Cake Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen This aromatic layer cake from chef Lara Lee gets its vibrant green color from pandan. The coconut- and vanilla-scented layers are balanced by tangy mascarpone cheese swirled with raspberry jam. Get the Recipe Save 04 of 25 Old-Fashioned Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp Diana Chistruga Strawberry-rhubarb is a classic — just like Mom. An hour in the oven yields a bubbling, ruby-red filling and a golden, crumble-style topping that stays crisp even after you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Get the Recipe Save 05 of 25 Orange Blossom Almond Cake with Ricotta Whipped Cream Food & Wine / Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Almond paste, butter, and extra-virgin olive oil give this cake its dense, moist texture, while orange blossom water infuses it with a citrusy fragrance. Get the Recipe Save 06 of 25 Apricot Kuchen with Labneh Whipped Cream Greg DuPree Mother's Day coincides with the start of apricot season; make this simple, sweet cake studded with juicy, tart apricots and served with a tangy labneh whipped cream to celebrate both. Get the Recipe Save 07 of 25 Baklava Cheesecake Robby Lozano / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Christina Daley With its creamy orange, cinnamon, and cardamom-laced filling, crisp graham cracker–pistachio crust, and shredded phyllo-pistachio topping, this dramatic Greek-inspired dessert is worthy of your Mother's Day festivities. Get the Recipe Save 08 of 25 Chocolate-Amaretto Pudding Cake Alex Lau / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox Spiked with almond liqueur, this delectable dessert separates into two layers as it bakes — a fluffy, almond-scented chocolate cake floating over glossy chocolate pudding — and is out of the oven in about 45 minutes. Get the Recipe Save 09 of 25 Maria Cookie Icebox Cake Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell For an easy, no-bake Mother's Day dessert that pulls out all the stops, look no further than this fetching cake. This recipe leans on slightly sweet Maria cookies, gently spiced whipped cream, and store-bought dulce de leche. Decorate it with strawberries and edible flowers for an extra-special touch. Get the Recipe Save 10 of 25 Espresso Martini Pie Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Lydia Purcell This decadent pie version of the Espresso Martini cocktail gets its caffeinated kick from instant espresso powder and Kahlúa coffee liqueur. Get the Recipe Save 11 of 25 Moscato Pound Cake with Grape Glaze Jessica Pettway / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Paola Andrea Turn classic pound cake into a festive dessert worthy of your Mother's Day celebration. The addition of Moscato in the batter lightens the intensely buttery crumb; a small amount of Moscato in its vibrant glaze heightens the its grape flavor. Get the Recipe Save 12 of 25 Spiced Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Frosting Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Kathleen Cook Varner Cookbook author Hetal Vasavada perfumes this carrot cake with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, then folds in golden raisins and crunchy pistachios for texture. Brown-butter ghee enriches the batter and the cream cheese frosting. Get the Recipe Save 13 of 25 Brown Butter Chocolate Rye Cookies Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley 2022 F&W Best New Chef Caroline Schiff adds earthiness to crumbly chocolate shortbread by including dark rye flour. This easy recipe prepares two logs of dough to make ahead for slice-and-bake cookies. Get the Recipe Save 14 of 25 Lemon-Olive Oil Cream Meringue Tart Antonis Achilleos / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall Mom will adore this tart by pastry chef and cookbook author Claudia Fleming. A luxurious take on lemon meringue pie, it has a shortbread-like tart crust, a rich lemon-olive oil cream filling, and an Italian meringue topping. Get the Recipe Save 15 of 25 Roasted Strawberry Sorbet Cedric Angeles Silky, juicy, and fruity, this five-ingredient sorbet is bursting with strawberry goodness thanks to the concentrated flavors of oven-roasted strawberries. Pinot Noir adds complex depth while lemon juice balances the sweetness. Get the Recipe Save 16 of 25 Rocky Road Brownies Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Joshua Hoggle / Food Styling by Marianne Williams These gooey, rich brownies have a few fun surprises inside, including melted chocolate and salted almonds. A golden marshmallow topping toasts under the broiler. They make a perfect after-dinner dessert or as a surprise special delivery. Get the Recipe Save 17 of 25 Cornmeal Cake Trifle with Sabayon and Candied Kumquats Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely If you want dessert to be the focal point of your Mother's Day feast, look no further than this striking trifle. Kumquats — small, orange-adjacent fruits no bigger than an olive — bring bright citrusy flavor to layers of cornmeal cake and rich sabayon. Get the Recipe Save 18 of 25 Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse Cake Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne Somewhere between a flourless chocolate cake and a cheesecake is this intensely chocolaty mousse cake. A whopping pound of chocolate is bolstered by coffee and dark Jamaican rum, then folded into whipped eggs along with vanilla-scented whipped cream and baked in a water bath. Get the Recipe Save 19 of 25 Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake with Orange Zest Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Strips of rhubarb substitute for the usual pineapple in this upside-down cake, which help make it both a seasonal and gorgeous treat. Get the Recipe Save 20 of 25 Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches Food & Wine / Photo by Stacy Allen / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Tucker Vines Serve a tangy no-churn cream-cheese ice cream between cakey red velvet cookies with this recipe from chef Taffy Elrod. These cookie sandwiches need at least six hours of freeze time, so they're a great make-ahead baking project. Get the Recipe Save 21 of 25 Lemon Chiffon Cake with Blueberry-Coriander Buttercream Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis Lemon and blueberry play nicely off each other, which makes the layers of Meyer lemon curd and coriander-spiced blueberry buttercream especially good companions. The colorful layers beg to be the centerpiece of Mom's special day. Get the Recipe Save 22 of 25 Miso Caramel Blondie Sundae Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley White miso's savory undertone tempers the sugary caramel in the cakey blondies that are the base of this fun ice cream sundae. Instead of classic whipped cream, peanut butter is folded with heavy cream for a softer, savory-sweet topping. Get the Recipe Save 23 of 25 Mai Tai Swirls Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver If Mom's a fan of the mai tai cocktail, she'll love these tropical, almond-scented cookies swirled with a mix of orange marmalade, lime zest, and gold rum. Sparkling white sugar clings to the cookies' edges for a gorgeous crunch. Get the Recipe Save 24 of 25 Cherry Clafoutis Christina Holmes It only takes one bowl to pull together a clafoutis, a rustic French fruit tart that is as impressive-looking as it is quick to make. It's a perfect recipe for spending more time at the table with Mom. Get the Recipe Save 25 of 25 Pistachio Pavlova with Rhubarb Cream Nicole Franzen Baker Gesine Bullock-Prado folds chopped pistachios into a glossy French meringue, then bakes it low and slow until the pavlova is crisp at the edges and marshmallow-soft at the center. A tangy rhubarb compote, cooked with lemon and strawberries, gets swirled into mascarpone whipped cream and spooned into the shell. Get the Recipe Save Explore more: Food Holidays & Occasions Mother's Day Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit