Ten Next-Level Takeaway Desserts to Try When You Need Something to Perk You Up

This Sydney-born bakery took out the title of ‘world’s most Instagrammed cake’ for its now-iconic strawberry watermelon creation. But if you’ve sampled any of Black Star Pastry’s house-made sweet treats, you’ll know they’re about more than just good looks. Now with an outpost in St Kilda, Melburnians can get a regular fix of Black Star’s goodies without leaving the state — including the Dragon Cake, which is built on layers of biscuit crumb, sponge, pineapple vanilla cream, pomegranate jelly and dragonfruit. In fact, you can get a range of these goodies without even leaving the house thanks to a home-delivery service that covers metro Melbourne.

How? How? Pre-order online for delivery, or head in-store.

If your next at-home ice cream party calls for some weird, wacky and wonderful flavours, put yourself in the clever hands of Thornbury’s non-traditional ice creamery Kenny Lover. This retro-inspired gem is churning a menu of inventive ice cream creations, heroing native ingredients throughout. Expect witty combinations like fairy bread and brown butter, caramelised pear and white chocolate, pineapple and lemon myrtle, and peanut and cinnamon — all available for pick-up in a cup, cone or multi-flavour tub. Separate waffle cones are also on offer if you’d prefer to do the scooping at home.

How? Pre-order online for pick-up.

Image: Julia Sansone

The kind folks at Cannoleria promise to keep you in good supply of their classic Sicilian dessert treats no matter where you live. Available for delivery to a bunch of Melbourne suburbs — and for pick-up, too — you’ll find packs of large and mini filled cannoli, all pre-loaded with traditional ricotta filling, a chocolate blend or a mix of both. If you don’t mind a little kitchen time yourself, there are also DIY finish-at-home cannoli kits, featuring crisp cannoli shells, ricotta filling and crushed pistachios to garnish. What’s more, there are gluten-free versions of all of these products also on offer.

How? Takeaway in-store, or pre-order online for pick-up or delivery.

When that inner cookie monster is hollering for a feed, it’s best to give him what he wants. And it’s safe to say he’ll be very satisfied munching through a gooey, chewy, chunky treat from The Cookie Box. This Windsor store specialises in super-charged handmade cookies with oozy centres and bits galore, in flavours like choc peanut butter, Nutella, and a churros-inspired fusion of dulce de leche and vanilla. Head in-store to grab some take-home goodies, pre-order for click-and-collect, or get those freshly-baked beauties sent to your door via express post. Deliveries are posted out Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, arriving within one to two days.

How? Visit the store, or order online for delivery or pick-up.

Lune’s famed pastries are known to attract hefty queues each weekend. But you can avoid all that by placing a pre-order for pick-up any day of the week. There’s a minimum order of $30, though you shouldn’t have too much trouble filling your trolley here. Shop favourites like the almond croissant, the new French-style kouign amann and the lemon curd cruffin, along with special releases like the marble twice-baked croissant, which comes loaded with hazelnut frangipane and milk chocolate custard. Of course, you’ll also want to stock up on a few of the traditional plain croissants, with each flaky wonder crafted carefully over three days.

How? Visit the store, or pre-order online for pick-up.

Image: Marcie Raw

North Melbourne’s Japanese-inspired milkbar cafe has a tantalising array of house-made sweet treats to choose from. But if your craving is for layers of fluffy cake sandwiched with fresh fruit and cream, you can’t go past a picture-perfect wedge of Le Bajo’s famed shortcake. Flavour-wise, strawberry is the classic order here, although other iterations like mango earl grey and apple earl grey have won fans of their own. Whole shortcakes are also on offer, if you’re feeding a few. Everything is available to pick-up from the cafe — so you can add a house-roasted coffee while you’re there.

How? Pick up in-store, or pre-order online to collect.

Lisa Valmorbida’s handmade artisan gelato is the kind you’ll find yourself dreaming about all year round. Luckily, when that craving hits — and it will — there are three different Pidapipo outposts, churning and scooping seven days a week. Pop in and stock up the freezer with a half-litre, one-litre or 1.5-litre take-home tub filled with your favourite flavours. Or, for an extra special treat, pre-order one of Pidapipo’s tempting range of hand-crafted gelato cakes, which feed up to 12. We love the Bacio Bombe — a generous four-person creation made of chocolate cake and bacio gelato, then covered in tiny tufts of Italian meringue ($40).

How? Take-home gelato tubs are available in-store. For gelato cakes, pre-order in-store, online or by phone (at least three days in advance), for collection from the Windsor store.

Sure, Ruben Bertolo and Nelson Coutinho’s Thornbury bakery is dedicated to just one thing: creamy, authentic pastéis de nata. But those Portuguese tarts are undoubtedly some of the best in town. Casa Nata’s earned a well-deserved cult following for its signature pastries, with each flaky crust housing a rich custard centre with a top that’s blistered to perfection. It’s mighty hard to stop at just one… but if you’re gorging at home, who says you need to? Swing past the store to stock up (Wednesday–Sunday), or jump online to pre-order by the six-pack for collection the following day.

How? Pick up in-store, or pre-order online.

If you’re yet to sink your teeth into a Goldeluck’s creation, you doughnut know what you’ve been missing out on. This cult-favourite Croydon bakery subscribes to the go-big-or-go-home mentality and its specialty dessert-filled delivery packs are truly something. Ideal as a gift or a treat yo’self moment, you’ll find a huge array of curated dessert boxes, starring filled doughnuts, loaded brownies, cookies, cronuts, lollies, exploding cakes and more. For a surefire crowd-pleaser, try the OG doughnut HSP pack ($40) — it’s crammed with bite-sized dough balls, smashed Tim Tams, Mini M&M’s, and a healthy drizzle of chocolate, white chocolate and Nutella sauce.

How? Order online for delivery across metro Melbourne, or via the website’s live chat function for same-day delivery.

For a decadent dessert that’ll transport you straight to the streetside stalls of Indonesia, check out family-run CBD spot Yoi. It’s whipping up a menu of authentic Indo eats, which includes a range of martabak — thick, fluffy pancakes that are folded in half and sandwiched with various sweet or savoury fillings. Available for pick-up and delivery, you’ve got your pick of original martabak or another version made with pandan-infused dough. Then, simply decide on your fillings, mixing and matching options like chocolate sprinkles, crushed peanuts, Nutella, kaya (sweet coconut jam), smashed Oreos and more.

How? Order online for pick-up or delivery to select suburbs.