24 Desserts That Can Only Be Found in Melbourne

So you think dessert is a universal language? Reconsider that attitude with these 24 dishes you can find only in Melbourne.

Gin and Tonic Tart at Burch & Purchese

It’s not that kind of G&T – pastry whiz Darren Purchese combines a vanilla tart shell with fizzy white lime chocolate, lime curd, gin-and-tonic jellies and juniper-and-lime marshmallows. Probably not safe for kids…

Burch & Purchese, 647 Chapel Street, South Yarra

Pear and Burnt Butter Cruffin at Lune Croissanterie

The croissants at Lune have been dubbed the best outside Paris by Rachel Khoo, but super-patissiér Kate Reid also likes to get busy with a croissant-muffin hybrid, this one with pear, apple and burnt-butter custard and a pear gel.

Lune Croissanterie, 119 Rose Street, Fitzroy

SEE ALSO: Don’t Wing It, Go to These 10 Melbourne Fried Chicken Spots

Sutlac at Tulum

One of many surprises at this most modern of Turkish restaurants, the sutlac is a rice pudding made with thyme, Jerusalem artichoke and cinnamon. Guaranteed to cure whatever ails you.

Tulum, 217 Carlisle Street, Balaclava

The Best Desserts You Can Only Find in Melbourne

Tipsy Cake at Dinner by Heston

The pineapples conspicuously roasting on a spit in Dinner’s open kitchen can only mean one thing: delicious, delicious Tipsy Cake (a sort of pudding-like scone) topped with the caramelised fruit and brandy sauce. dinnerbyheston.com.au

Dinner by Heston, Level 3, Crown Casino, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank

Lamington Jaffle at Bad Frankie

A concept never before seen in polite company but thrilling the punters is the jaffle-tastic treatment of jam-filled chocolate sponge, dusted in coconut and served with vanilla cream at this Fitzroy bar.

Bad Frankie, 141 Greeves Street, Fitzroy

Image credit: Tom Goldner The Fox Darkroom & Gallery

Any dessert at Syracuse

Why? Because the Queen of Desserts, Philippa Sibley, is reigning at this glam city bolthole and anything she touches is beyond our mortal ken. Look out for wonders such as her famed Snow White, Rose Red, a burnt-butter frangipane with rose geranium ice cream and rhubarb.

Syracuse, 23 Bank Place, Melbourne

Ice-cream Sandwich at Higher Ground

Banish thoughts of Eskimo Pies and instead get glam with the Pedro Ximenez ice-cream sandwich with chocolate brownie and Earl Grey syrup.

Higher Ground, 650 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Madeleine at Cumulus Inc

You can get madeleines elsewhere, of course – the so-Frenchy, so-chic petite shell-like cake – but where else are they made to order, with a lemon curd centre and served warm straight from the oven – for breakfast? Mais oui, the stuff of reveries.

Cumulus Inc, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Sticks & Stones at Om Nom

Hit the Adelphi Hotel’s designated dessert bar for an environmental extravaganza of chocolate bark, charcoal passionfruit pebbles, chocolate soil and hazelnut custard finished with crunchy chocolate twigs.

Om Nom, 187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Soft Serve at Supernormal

It’s soft serve, but not as we know it: try vanilla, miso and popcorn on for size, and wonder why no one’s done it before.

Supernormal, 180 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Panqueques at San Telmo

South America’s answer to Nutella, dulce de leche’s sweet, spreadable caramel makes beautiful music with the rolled ginger crepes at this gaucho hangout.

San Telmo, 14 Meyers Place, Melbourne

Hot Jam Doughnuts from American Doughnut Kitchen

Some dishes are all about the setting (see also: fish and chips on the beach), so any hot jam doughnut - dusted in finger-lickin’ sugar and with a core to rival lava – is 100 per cent better when ordered from this van, proudly plying its trade at the Queen Victoria Market since 1950.

American Doughnut Kitchen, Queen Street, Melbourne

Turkish-Delight Doughnuts at Maha

Cute orbs of fried dough filled with molten Turkish delight and drizzled with rosewater honey – they’re chef Shane Delia’s tribute to the American Doughnut Kitchen. maharestaurant.com.au

Maha, 21 Bond Street, Melbourne

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream at Lucy Liu

A dessert that’ll spark you up rather than wind you down, this caffeinated confection gets its carb on with a fried Chinese doughnut.

Lucy Liu, 23 Oliver Lane, Melbourne

Hazelnut Dacquoise at Kisumé

Visually stunning, the glossy pink orb hiding an interior of chocolate mousse and Frangelico cream is the stuff of artistic reveries. kisume.com.au

Kisumé, 175 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Banana Spring Roll at Dandelion

Neat and petite, this two-bite spring roll with longan and a drizzle of honey summons memories of backpacker days on Bangkok’s Khao San Road.

Dandelion, 133 Ormond Road, Elwood

Torta di Formaggio at Il Bacaro

The dessert signature of this sleek Italian is an agave-sweetened cheesecake. The maximalist cake comes with crystallised violet, crème fraiche, pop rocks, blueberry sorbet and fairy floss.

Il Bacaro, 168-170 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Quince Terrine at Neptune

Well, we’re calling it a terrine – layers of poached quince and Chinotto jelly covered in a snowdrift of burrata granita.

Neptune, 212 High Street, Prahran

Chocolate Croissant at Smith and Deli

Another croissant? Ho hum. But at this always-pumping New York-style deli everything on the menu is vegan. Digest that for a moment, then reassess the chocolate-oozing pastry that sends Melbourne’s growing tribe of plant-based eaters into paroxysms of delight.

Smith and Deli, 111 Moor Street, Fitzroy

Main image: Sticks & Stones at Om Nom