Our All-Time Favorite Ina Garten Desserts
If we were forced to choose our favorite Ina Garten desserts, we'd first protest, exclaiming loudly that this request is akin to asking us to choose our favorite child. How does one do that, exactly? But here we are, at the beginning of a list of goodies that we've somehow managed to name as our favorites. The choice wasn't easy because, really, does the Barefoot Contessa every make a bad dessert? We think not.
So, to make our selection process simpler, we came up with some criteria. Since cooking for others is one of her love languages, we thought it would be appropriate to choose desserts loved by her family and friends. While not all of the desserts on this list fall into that category, many do. Moving on from there, we selected others because they epitomized her desire to make cooking easy. In other words, they're easy to make and easy to eat.
Some of the desserts evoked fond memories and flavors from her childhood, and a few have been deemed delish enough to grace her holiday tables. Finally, we picked some of them because she's expressed that she personally loves them. Who are we to argue with Ina Garten's tastes? They've brought her (and us) this far, so those seem like a good bet. From elegant cookies to a very messy English treat, all of this makes for a pretty well-rounded list of our favorite Ina Garten desserts, if we can say so ourselves.
Black and white cookies
In her book, "Modern Comfort Food," Ina Garten had this to say about cookies: "You can be miserable before eating a cookie, and you can be miserable after eating a cookie, but you can never be miserable while eating a cookie." We can only imagine that she meant her delish black and white cookies, in particular, when such words of wisdom fell from her lips. In terms of consistency, black and white cookies fall somewhere between cookies and cake. When you bite into one, the more solid fondant icing gives way to a spongy, cake-like interior, which feels a bit like lemon cake in the mouth. It's this surprise interior, as well as the chocolate and vanilla icing, that makes Ina Garten love them so much, with the cook writing on her blog that these cookies are "modern comfort food at its best — old-fashioned flavor but totally modern and delicious."
But their tasty comfort food vibes aren't the only thing to celebrate in these pocket-sized cakes. With their smart half-moon design, they look like the cookie equivalent of a tuxedo. It's not difficult to imagine them being served at a chi chi affair surrounded by cups of steaming hot Earl Grey and delicate tea sandwiches made of English cucumbers. And given that one of their nicknames is "unity cookies," we can only imagine the types of connections and conversations these cookies would spark at such a gathering.
Outrageous brownies
With three tablespoons of instant coffee granules to encourage the melted chocolate to blossom into an explosion of flavor, it's easy to see why at one point, Ina Garten was selling about a thousand of her outrageous brownies a week in her shop, Barefoot Contessa. This makes them a natural for our "best of" list, but it isn't the only reason why these brownies make the grade. They're the kind of food that's "soul-satisfying," as she said in her book "Modern Comfort Foods." Those are big words for a dessert as that's as common at the local coffee shop as double mocha lattes are.
But common doesn't mean boring in this case. Quite the contrary. After 9/11, people reached out to her to tell her that they felt inspired to trek to the local grocery store to collect all of the necessary ingredients to bring the brownies recipe — and themselves — to life. Such is the effect that a comfort food dessert can have on the weary soul.
From a taste and texture perspective, it's the ratio of chocolate to flour that makes them stand out. There's a lot of the former and very little of the latter. That — and 12 ounces of chocolate chips — is why they're so incredibly fudgy. Finally, three generous cups of chopped walnuts added to the rest of the brownie ingredients means there's a satisfying crunch to go along with each mouthful of chocolatey goodness. They're so yum from the first bite to the last.
Fresh lemon mousse
Lemon makes nearly any recipe seem light, even if it's not. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the Barefoot Contessa's lemon mousse. A self-proclaimed favorite of the celeb chef, she manages to make a light, fluffy lemon mousse because she knows how to treat egg whites right. This isn't an exaggeration. For lovers of this dessert (like us), knowing how to fold in the egg whites is mission critical.
Thankfully, Ina Garten is a good teacher. She encourages her Food Network watchers to gently fold the egg whites into the mousse mixture so that the air in them doesn't deflate. It's a lesson that inexperienced cooks can appreciate. But the recipe wouldn't be worth much on a visceral level if it didn't also taste phenomenal. Lemon zest, lemon juice, and a hefty half cup of lemon curd pretty much guarantee there's no shortage of lemon flavor. The addition of sculpted fluffy whipped cream and a garnish of sliced lemons make this dessert a modern classic.
Beatty's chocolate cake
Sometimes, a dessert gives you a taste before you ever put that first bite in your mouth. For us, that's Beatty's chocolate cake, courtesy of Ina Garten. It's a feast for the eyes long before it ever feeds the tastebuds. Covered in glorious mounds of chocolate buttercream icing, this cake — with its spongy, rich, coffee-hued interior — is decadence on a plate. Introduced to her by a friend, the Barefoot Contessa promptly pronounced it "the best chocolate cake I've ever had" on Goldbelly TV, inspiring her to make it one of her own.
Created with quality cocoa powder and infused with the perky goodness of a steaming cup of fresh-brewed coffee, this recipe is the kind of cake that goes with ice cream. And the Contessa knows just how to make chocolate cake and ice cream more grown-up. She creates a crème anglaise for the cake to lounge upon, but she doesn't make sauce from scratch. Garten just melts some vanilla ice cream and serves it as a sauce under the cake.
Seems legit, given the fact that crème anglaise consists of egg yolks, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Her version is basically vanilla ice cream without the egg yolks (though a serving of frozen custard in its unfrozen form would remedy the dearth of eggs in the sauce). This ingenious solution scores her some extra points on this favorites list because she makes it easy for average bakers to create stunning desserts the easy way.
Pumpkin flan with maple caramel
Ina Garten's genuine enthusiasm for food just kind of makes you want to try things simply because she loves the dish so much. So it is with her pumpkin flan with maple caramel, which she made for her Food Network show "Barefoot Contessa." After one bite, still savoring the dessert on her tongue, she said, "I don't know. I may have to skip the turkey and go directly to the dessert." It's hard not to like someone who eats dessert first, nor is it difficult to love the dessert that makes her do such a thing.
The Contessa puts a Thanksgiving spin on the dessert. The combo of pumpkin puree and maple syrup positions this dish to be the star of the holiday, which is saying something given the importance of the bird on Thanksgiving.
A few key ingredients make this dessert stand out. Italian mascarpone cheese brings a velvety richness to the flan's flavor profile, one that's even further enhanced by Garten's addition of pure maple extract and pumpkin puree. She's quick to say that it needs to be pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Still, eating this treat is a bit like having two desserts in one. As Garten points out, "It's kind of like a mash-up of pumpkin pie and crème caramel." Yet another reason for us to love this dessert.
Vanilla rum panna cotta with salted caramel
Panna cotta is one of those Italian desserts that looks oh-so impressive. And yet, it's easy to make — at least, Ina Garten thinks so. Mostly, it's a matter of presentation, or so she told William Brangham during an in-kitchen interview with the PBS NewsHour. We know better, of course. While the basic recipe is pretty straightforward — just unflavored gelatin, heavy cream, dark rum, yogurt, and vanilla topped with caramel sauce — the Contessa gives it an infusion of her personal touches, as well as a bit of wisdom.
Chief among them is her use of her homemade vanilla extract, which she keeps a jar of in her pantry. It provides not only the rich vanilla flavor in the dessert but it also juxtaposes the store-bought-is-just-fine caramel sauce she uses in her recipe. (She likes Fran's brand.) This approach epitomizes Garten's view on entertaining. Cook what you want, and use store-bought ingredients if it makes the process faster.
For those who aspire to be like the Contessa, such advice makes for an excellent dessert all around. Not only does it taste superb, it also encourages people to enjoy dessert and the loved ones they share it with. This beats spending all day and night in the kitchen and missing out on the party and dessert.
Vanilla cream cheese pound cake
Ina Garten loves vanilla. According to her, "Too much vanilla is never enough," a pronouncement she made while whipping up some of her vanilla cream cheese pound cake on her Food Network show "Barefoot Contessa." And Garten's pound cake does get a very generous supply of vanilla. First, she puts in one full tablespoon of real vanilla extract, which she follows with the scrapings of the interior of a vanilla bean.
This dessert is just plain likable. It probably goes without saying that the vanilla flavor is over the top. It also scores points for being a dessert that's so good that the Contessa doesn't even wait to finish a bite of her pound cake before waxing eloquent about its rich, fine flavor. According to an interview with Garten on 60 Minutes, it was this talking-with-her-mouth-full trait that landed her a show on TV in the first place, and more importantly, it's a quality that made us pound cake fans eager to try a slice or two with our next cup of coffee.
Dark chocolate tart
The best foods tell a story, and certainly, Ina Garten's dark chocolate tart comes with quite a tale. The Contessa became acquainted with the tart when she got to know its creator, Erin French, during the pandemic. French is the owner of Maine's now-famous 50-seat eatery, The Lost Kitchen, which is famous for its bespoke menu that changes nightly and for its short season — just May to September. Still, despite having greater odds of not being chosen, upwards of 20,000 people a year send postcards to French to try and nab a reservation. Only a golden ticket from Wonka himself is more elusive.
All of this is to say, if this dessert originated on that restaurant's menu, it must be awesome. The dark chocolate tart also made it into French's cookbook, "The Lost Kitchen," and into the Barefoot Contessa's heart. And that's great news for us.
Crumbles of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers create a solid of foundation of chocolate on which to build this rich dessert. (Yes, it's a bit like a graham cracker crust.) The filling is simple: bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, eggs, and vanilla extract. A thick chocolate ganache, sprinkled with salt, crowns the dessert. In her book "Go-To Dinners," the Contessa calls it the "most luxurious chocolate dessert I've ever made." We must agree. The only thing that would make this dessert all the more chocolatey would be to keep a big mug of sweet hot chocolate around to wash it down with.
Boston cream pie
Boston cream pie isn't what it seems. Called pie but really a cake, it made its debut in 1856 shortly after the Parker House in Boston opened. It's now the official state dessert of Massachusetts and a comfort food favorite of the Barefoot Contessa.
As with all of her recipes, she takes the original and puts her own personal spin on it. The original recipe calls a rum pastry cream center sandwiched on top and bottom by sponge cake. Garten's take on the sweet treat replaces the sponge cake with pound cake. As for the rum? Grand Marnier cognac steps in to give the cake a burnt vanilla and orange flavor, thanks to an infusion of candied orange peel, vanilla, and caramelized sugar. The Contessa uses the cognac in both the creamy center and in the cake's soak. In fact, the flavor of orange permeates her version of the dessert. All of this would result it a great cake regardless, but with the addition of the chocolate glaze on top, it makes eating the cake like eating a boozy Tootsie roll. So scrumptious.
Applesauce cake with bourbon raisins
In her book "Modern Comfort Food," Ina Garten speaks about the temptation we all have to make something fancy schmancy when we invite guests over. Grilled octopus? Impressive, yes? Crowd pleaser? Maybe. Or maybe not. That's the kind of dish you order at a restaurant. When someone invites you over for a meal, you want something like smash burgers for dinner and applesauce cake with bourbon raisins for dessert.
That's what the Contessa thinks, and we couldn't agree more. That's why we love this cake so much. The combination of applesauce cake and bourbon cream cheese frosting is difficult not to like. With its 1 ½ cups of applesauce, the flavor of this cake brings the fruits of the harvest to your tastebuds in every bite. It also gets a boost from spices and flavoring, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla extract. The cake's sweet and moist profile refreshes the palate in the way that only apples can.
Despite being a comfort food in Garten's book, it does have hints of sophistication — namely, the slightly spicy vanilla-ish flavor that comes with the bourbon in the cream cheese frosting. This addition augments recipe's vanilla flavoring, something the Contessa ensures comes through by including a half a teaspoon of vanilla in the mix. Taken together, this Barefoot Contessa dessert is about as comfort food as you can get.
Red velvet cupcakes
What could cause more of an eruption of the senses than the scent of red velvet cupcakes mingling with the fragrant blooms in a flower shop? Sounds like the perfect recipe for an afternoon tea, doesn't it? As she explained in an episode of "Barefoot Contessa," that's just what Ina Garten thought when she made a batch of red velvet cupcakes for a friend who opened her flower shop at a new location.
And fortunately, despite how impressive looking (and tasting) the perfect red velvet cake and cupcakes can be, they're relatively simple to make. If that weren't the case, Garten wouldn't have included them in her "Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?" cookbook. Once called "ruby red cake," red velvet cake emerged during the Victorian era. Technically, it's a vanilla cake with a bit of cocoa added. Certainly, that's the case with the Contessa's version of the cake, which only calls for a quarter cup of cocoa.
In the past, the combination of cocoa powder and vinegar turned the cake red. Later, when the make-up of cocoa powder changed, red food coloring was added to allow the cake to keep its signature burgundy color. All in all, its smooth, fine texture, brilliant color, and dollops of creamy icing probably tasted as good to the patrons wandering around Garten's friend's flower shop as it did during an afternoon tea during the Victorian era.
Eton Mess
Talk about happy accidents. If ever a dessert fell into this category, it would be Eton Mess, which literally came about because of an accident – a fall, or rather a drop, no less. The story goes that a dessert, consisting of cream pudding, strawberries, and meringue, was slated to be served at a 19th-century cricket match between Harrow and Eton schools in Great Britain. Whoever was involved in the spill apparently salvaged the dish by scraping together what would've been the dessert equivalent of a Shakespearean tragedy and served its broken bits in bowls.
Centuries later, this simple dessert would earn a spot on the front cover of Ina Garten's book "Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?" We also know that this is one of Ina Garten's favorite desserts because it's labeled as such on her website. True to the easy-does-it approach she takes to much of her cooking, she suggests using store-bought ingredients, like bakery meringue shells. Also true to the dessert's history, these get broken up into bits to create the dish's trademark layers.
The Contessa modernizes the dessert by infusing the fruit with framboise liqueur, which has a sweet raspberry flavor. Garten's recipe calls for raspberries, but you can make it with any fruit. We love that this dessert is the embodiment of turning tragedy into one tasty triumph.