10 Iconic Desserts Every '90s Kid Remembers

For the generation that grew up in the '90s, it can feel like it was worlds apart from how we live in the present. Steeped in nostalgia and a general sense of optimism about the world, it was the decade that holds good, or perhaps romanticized, memories of a time gone by. Along with the music, the style, and the retro technology that marked the '90s, the food also played a huge role in so many of our memories. And since '90s kids were just kids, desserts made up a big part of our love for that time. Maybe it was because there were just fewer food inventions at that time than there are now, where every week it seems like there's a new viral trend, but it felt as if the desserts that existed then were truly iconic. And when something new came up, everyone would talk about it with sheer excitement and wonder.

Ask any '90s kid what their favorite childhood foods were, and watch their eyes light up. Everything from nostalgic frozen foods to discontinued snacks can cause major discussion and debate about what the best ones were. When it comes to desserts, the conversation gets even more animated. Whether it was the sweet treat grocery store staple that we begged our parents to buy, or the dish we scanned the dessert menu for, there are some desserts every '90s kid remembers.

If you grew up in the '90s, you were bound to come across the warm, gooey, chocolate lava cake. Perhaps the most iconic dessert of the '90s, this cake was the closest thing to a viral sensation in a time without social media, and it's not difficult to understand why. The warm chocolate cake with a molten center that oozed out as soon as you cut into it was a novelty at the time. When paired with cold vanilla ice cream, the play between temperatures made it beyond exciting. Because of its exciting innovation, this cake became a staple on many gourmet restaurant menus at the time. And, while now it may be so ubiquitous on many chain menus, when it first came on the scene, it was considered fancy and upscale. In fact, it was the star dessert that was the reason you wanted to eat at a specific restaurant.

For such an elegant dish, it was loved by everyone. For the younger generations, the almost liquid chocolate center mimicked licking the bowl when you were baking a cake. Plus, cake and ice cream? The best of both worlds in one dish! Nowadays, the molten lava cake has taken many forms, from salted caramel centers to a raspberry jam Valentine's Day dessert. While not as fashionable as it was in the '90s, it seems like it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

We don't see a lot of ice cream cakes in the US today, but they were pretty popular during the '90s. It was the heyday of Baskin-Robbins, and its ice cream cakes became a sought-after dessert purchase. They were pretty pricey, though, so for the regular American, there was Viennetta instead. This fancy frozen treat ruled the '90s, and it was one of the more affordable ways to get an ice cream cake. Although for some, it was still considered an out-of-budget, luxury grocery store dessert. Interestingly enough, the Viennetta was just ice cream and chocolate, but whether it was its Italian-sounding name or the presentation, it was seen as special and high-end.

The rippled layers of ice cream and chocolate, and the wavy pattern they were decorated in, felt very stylish at the time, and it was a coveted dessert for most families. A loaf of Viennetta could be sliced up for a small party or gathering, and be the highlight of the meal. It was discontinued in the U.S. at the end of the '90s, but made a comeback in 2021 to the delight of many of its fans.

Cookies are usually loved by all children, but when they're accompanied by frosting, they're sure to be a hit. That's exactly what Dunkaroos were in the '90s. If you had Dunkaroos in your lunchbox growing up, you were probably the favored friend of the group. Kids went crazy for these super sweet snacks, and if a packet got opened, they'd be gone in minutes. The interactive charm of this treat was in the sharing and the dunking, of course. The creamy frosting felt like you were having a proper dessert instead of just an afternoon sweet snack. Plus, we all have different cookie-to-frosting ratios, and you could put as much or as little frosting as you liked on these bite-sized cookies.

Dunkaroos were vanilla cookies, and you could get them with either vanilla or chocolate frosting. Like some other '90s snacks, they were brought back into stores in 2020. You can get the classic retro snack as it was, plus some new iterations like Dunkaroo cereal, frosting, and even yogurt. You can also make some homemade Dunkaroos if you're feeling extra ambitious and want to enjoy your own version of this old-timey treat.

We can't think of retro desserts without thinking of Jell-O. This wobbly, colorful jelly was truly versatile, and it was a hit at dinner parties, kids' birthday parties, hospital kitchens, and even in your lunchbox at school. Jell-O has been around for ages (much longer than you think), and there isn't a '90s kid who didn't have Jell-O as some part of their childhood. We either bought tiny tubs of them from the store, or we made our own in various fun-shaped molds. Plus, a Jell-O pudding pop was a huge hit, too.

Sometimes we added fruit or cake to our Jell-O, and other times we mixed different flavors and cooled layer by layer in the fridge to make a rainbow Jell-O confection. It was the ultimate creative dish that was easy enough for any kid to make on their own — as long as you exercised enough patience to wait for it to solidify into that signature solid, but jiggly, consistency. Then, as we grew older, Jell-O came with us into young adulthood through alcohol-spiked Jell-O shots. Nowadays, it's not as popular a dessert as it was in the '90s, but that doesn't mean it's gone. People are still eating Jell-O in various forms, and there are many ways to jazz it up into a more modern creation.

As the world was nearing the new millennium and Y2K, a sweet snack emerged that was emblematic of the time. Bowling was all the rage back then, and it's where many kids and teens were spending time with friends and family. It was trendy for bowling alleys to do something called cosmic bowling, where you'd knock down pins in a glow-in-the-dark alley. Neon lights, black lights, and lasers lit up t-shirts and decorations all around the space. This fun experience was what then inspired the creation of Little Debbie's Cosmic Brownies.

They may seem like a pretty simple concept today, but when Cosmic Brownies came out, kids couldn't get enough of them. You could find them at birthday parties, school celebrations, and children's lunchboxes, and since they were pretty easy to recreate at home, they became a popular thing to make for a bake sale. Gooey, sauce-topped brownies are pretty universal nowadays, but Cosmic Brownies helped launch the treat to stardom.

The origins of red velvet cake are debated, but many '90s kids remember just how popular it became during their upbringing. While it wasn't a new invention by any means, it seemed to reach peak popularity in the '90s, largely because of a film that revived it. Steel Magnolias, which came out in 1989, brought red velvet cake back into pop culture and beyond. You couldn't go to a cake shop without seeing red velvet cake and other red velvet-flavored baked goods. Everything from red velvet cupcakes to brownies, waffles, and cookies was made into red desserts with a cream cheese frosting.

Red velvet cake may not be the star of the show anymore, but it's certainly still popular and has some spin-offs in other colors, too. And many people have traded the heavy amounts of food coloring for natural ingredients like beet powder for red velvet and Butterfly Pea powder and blue spirulina to make blue velvet. Thankfully, you can still order it at numerous bakeries, and you can bake your own with this classic and decadent red velvet cake recipe, but there was something about the '90s that really made this flavor stand out.

It doesn't get more iconic than a classic pineapple upside-down cake. It was certainly a special occasion when it was being served back in the day, but sadly, nowadays, it's been relegated to our grandmothers' kitchens rather than a common find at the neighborhood bakery counter. As a child, all of the fun was in the theatrics of flipping the cake upside-down so the pineapples and cherries would be on top.

It was also relatively easy to make, so it was a feature in many households. One layer of cake with a layer of caramelized pineapple was simple enough, and the result was a fruity, sticky, satisfying dessert. Plus, the signature placement of a cherry in the center of each pineapple ring was so much fun to do and was an accessible task for a young child to be responsible for. The (usually canned) pineapples tend to caramelize well and create that chewy, yet juicy texture that gives the cake its moist character. This fruity classic may be old school, but it's still as tasty today as it was in the '90s.

As of today, you can find edible cookie dough in any store, plus cookie dough ice cream, brownies, and even cookie dough-stuffed croissants. But most '90s kids can remember the time when cookie dough was only available when you could lick the spoon while you were baking cookies. Then, in the late 1990s, it started to become the thing you would make to eat as is, rather than the step to making cookies. Premade edible cookie dough was a safer choice than simply eating cookie batter, since it's not the best idea to eat raw eggs and flour. Of course, you could get or make various flavors of cookie dough, but without a doubt, the most popular was the standard chocolate chip.

You could win over a kid by promising just about anything with chocolate chips, but chocolate chip cookie dough was a revelation. That thick and rich dough studded with little crispy chocolate chips was textural heaven, and helped us chocolate fiends feel satisfied. Now, as adults, cookie dough may feel a little juvenile to eat, but that doesn't make it any less tasty. And while health influencers may be trying to get us to make it using chickpeas, sweet potatoes, or other alternative ingredients, you have our permission to make the real thing.

Along with red velvet, another colorful cake became a '90s sensation. Funfetti cake was a children's birthday party staple at one point, and there was rarely an occasion that went by where kids weren't requesting it. Rainbow sprinkles went from being an almost boring dessert topping to being the main attraction. These sprinkles, when added to cake batter, created the dotted bits of color that turned a vanilla cake from boring to whimsical. It's the easiest trick for such a high reward.

The allure is in the look, more than the flavor, since rainbow sprinkles don't have a distinctly strong taste other than general candy flavor. But the rainbow effect is enough to make a cake feel super special and, well, fun! A funfetti cake was so beloved at birthday parties, it even inspired Christina Tosi's very own birthday cake at her Milk Bar sweet shop. You can find Funfetti cakes named slightly differently, too, like confetti cake, rainbow cake, or even simply birthday cake. Funfetti cake isn't where the trend stops, though, so even people who don't like cake can get in on the action with other funfetti baked goods like cookies, muffins, or even truffles.

Pop-Tarts may have been around for decades before the 1990s (since the 1960s, to be exact), but '90s kids will tell you that it was the sweet snack that characterized their childhoods. These toaster-made pastries are the epitome of convenience, and they made it a cinch to satisfy our sweet tooth in mere seconds. Some had them for breakfast, and while others had them as an after-school treat, but either way, they were deeply beloved by '90s kids across the country.

The '90s were also when we saw the start of numerous limited-edition flavors that were created, some of which resembled desserts on this list, like cookie dough, red velvet, and confetti-flavored Pop-Tarts. Fans of '90s Pop-Tarts flavors are often calling for them to make a comeback, with some even starting petitions to request specific flavors be made again. Nostalgia is definitely a key element for the love of these crispy, sweet confections, but as we've seen for over half a century, they're not going anywhere any time soon.