10 Irish Desserts We Can’t Get Enough Of

Before the twentieth century, Ireland wasn’t really known for desserts. As the country grew more and more prosperous, many of its citizens began experimenting with creating local versions of desserts they may have sampled abroad—usually in the United States or England. As Irish whiskeys, cream liqueurs and stouts became popular throughout the world, non-Irish cooks also began giving their own desserts a splash or two of Irish spirit, spawning a whole new roster of Irish-inspired desserts that is always growing. You’ll love all the desserts in this roundup but we recommend you start with something more traditional, like this cake that features a topping of tart slices of granny smith apple and a crumbly streusel made with rolled oats. It’s a simple cake that’s perfect on its own or with a cup of tea or coffee. However, we think it’s even better with a big, messy scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This is a simple recipe that employs the use of boxed cake mix, so there’s even less measuring to do. What really distinguishes this cake from other poke cakes, though is the combination of luscious Irish cream liqueur and coffee, making for an Irish coffee flavor in a rich, pudding-like cake.

These piped, swirly butter cookies are a perennial favorite throughout Ireland and feature a chewy maraschino cherry on top of each one. You can play around with the recipe by adding different flavorings or even green food coloring for a festive treat. They’re also really great sandwiching jam or buttercream.

Guinness stout is a very dark beer that boasts notes of coffee and caramel, two ingredients that pair naturally well with chocolate. For this recipe, the Guinness is reduced to a syrup to intensify the flavors and really make the chocolate stand out. The brownies are a nice marriage of fudgy and cakey and are intensely chocolatey, thanks to the bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder.