Top 20 Best Indonesian Desserts That Are Worth Trying In 2023

Choosing suitable Indonesian desserts defines your meal as perfection, delight, or just ordination. The harmony of desserts and main savories is essential to maximize the flavor and decide whether you eat the dishes again.

I know that there have been thousands of Indonesian desserts, but you can’t choose one from them randomly to do with your meals. An appropriate dessert must be fit for meals related to taste, color, and decoration.

For those reasons, I’m here today to give you a hand in choosing the suitable Indonesian desserts for Indonesian meals. Let’s discover exciting points.

The 20 Best Ideas For Indonesian Desserts

When it comes to the various dishes in Indonesian cuisine, it’ll be a mistake not to mention the incredibly luscious desserts there. Here, I will give you the list of 20 best but the most delightful Indonesian desserts. From that, you can choose one for your meals.

Indonesian Cake Desserts

1. Klepon (Indonesian Sweet Rice Cakes)
2. Lapis Legit (Layered Spice Cake)
3. Fluffy Pandan Chiffon Cake
4. Bingka Ubi Jalar (Sweet Potato Cake)
5. Kue Dadar Gulung (Coconut Filled Pancakes)
6. Getuk Ubi Kayu (Pressed Cassava Cake)
7. Pie Susu Bali (Balinese Milk Custard Tart)
8. Wingko Babat Cake
9. Kue Lupis (Indonesian Sweet Sticky Rice Dumplings)
10. Nastar (Pineapple Cookies)

Coconut Sweet Indonesian Desserts

11. Coconut Milk Agar Jelly
12. Ongol Ongol Hunkwe (Mung Bean Flour Cake with Grated Coconut)
13. Nagasari (Banana and Coconut Custard)
14. Bubur Ketan Hitam (Indonesia Black Rice Porridge With Coconut Milk)
15. Kolak

Beverages As Indonesian Desserts

16. Es Teler ( Fruit Salad Drink With Coconut Meat)
17. Jus Alpukat (Indonesian Avocado Milkshake)
18. Es Cendol

Other Indonesian Desserts

19. Wajik (Sticky Rice in Palm Sugar)
20. Pisang Goreng (Indonesian Fried Banana)

Let’s Make Your Meal Perfect With Suitable Indonesian Desserts

If you have got one idea for yourself, jump into the detailed information to know what the dessert looks like, how it tastes, what to serve with them to raise the deliciousness level of your whole meals.

Indonesian Cake Desserts

Cakes are the most famous Indonesian desserts you can easily see in almost all meals because they are easy to fit, quick to make, and beautiful to light or add colors to the meals.

1. Klepon (Indonesian Sweet Rice Cakes)

I think you can’t resist the delight of Indonesian rice cakes because the dessert is made from glutinous rice flour mixed with the fantastic flavor of pandan, along with shredded coconut, and palm sugar.

The dessert adds to your meal a light color, making your meals more appealing, flavorful, and tasty.

I believe that the dessert must be children’s go-to dish, and it may be one of the most delicious Indonesian desserts you can consider.

The video will help you with simple periods to get Indonesian rice cakes finished!

2. Lapis Legit (Layered Spice Cake)

Another cake type as Indonesian desserts is layered spice cake made with essential ingredients, such as butter, superfine sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg.

Lapis legit has a soft, dense, and sweet texture. Besides, the addition of butter will make your cake tangier and more delightful.

One suggestion for you is to serve the cake with raspberry and strawberry jam or with fresh fruits to raise the deliciousness level.

3. Fluffy Pandan Chiffon Cake

Cakes are similar to each other in terms of ingredients, but the difference of making methods can cause different results, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but believe me, the fluffy pandan chiffon cakes never let you down.

This cake is super soft and dense in texture, tangy in smell, and light green in color, making it a common option for desserts.

4. Bingka Ubi Jalar (Sweet Potato Cake)

I am a sucker for sweet potatoes when I always find creative ways to combine sweet potatoes into my foods. And after all, I figured out a cake made with sweet potatoes that I’m addicted to.

I’m always impressed by the incredibly beautiful color, natural and pleasant sweetness from the texture, and tangy aroma of the desserts. For meals, I get the cake as dessert; I eat fewer main savories to be able to eat more sweet potato cake.

5. Kue Dadar Gulung (Coconut Filled Pancakes)

If you love the coconut aroma, you shouldn’t miss this amazing dessert from coconut. The coconut-filled pancakes are made with grated sweetened coconut filling, pandan juice, eggs, flour, pandan leaves, and coconut sugar.

However, what makes these pancakes delightful is their fillings that make you feel delicious at the first bites.

Let’s finish coconut-filled pancakes with these easily followed guidelines:

6. Getuk Ubi Kayu (Pressed Cassava Cake)

Another cake idea as Indonesian desserts comes from pressed cassava cake produced by boiling cassava roots until they get tender, mashing them, and mixing the texture with palm sugar, grated coconut, white sugar, and salt to taste the cake.

The blend is pressed while hot and cut into bite-size pieces when it becomes firm enough. The Indonesian cake is one of the most accessible cakes to make and sometimes reminds you of childhood memories and attachment.

Take a better grasp of making pressed cassava cake with these presented detailed steps:

7. Pie Susu Bali (Balinese Milk Custard Tart)

If you are super into eating any dessert in the form of custard, I will give you one more idea to diversify your meals. Balinese milk custard tart includes crust and custard.

This dessert is an original Balinese recipe. While the crispy and slightly intense crust is made with all-purpose flour, chilled butter, and the creamy and tangy custard is made from yolks, condensed milk, and water.

All detailed guidelines to finish pie Susu Bali are in your hand now!

8. Wingko Babat Cake

One more cake idea is wingko babat cake that is made with glutinous rice flour, salt, eggs, freshly grated coconut meat, castor sugar, toasted sesame seeds, vanilla extract, and coconut milk.

These coconut cakes are tender, delightful, heavenly, and tangy to eat. You can try eating the cake when you have a chance.

9. Kue Lupis (Indonesian Sweet Sticky Rice Dumplings)

Making sweet sticky rice dumplings for dessert is also an excellent idea when you can balance the flavor of your meals and make them more diverse.

With these sweet sticky dumplings, there are not too many ingredients involving finishing these dumplings. However, wrapping kue lupis sometimes is tricky because you need to shape the cake into triangles.

After being boiled, your dumplings are rolled with grated coconut and palm sugar to make them more glamorous and also add natural sweetness to the cake.

10. Nastar (Pineapple Cookies)

No one can resist the attractiveness of delicious melt-in-your-mouth pineapple cookies. These cookies are filled with pineapple jam at the center, brushed the top of cookies with egg wash, and baked for 30-40 minutes.

Making pineapple jam requires a lot of time, so you had better prepare pineapple jam in advance. Ask your family members to make the cakes, so you can enjoy your free time together.

For a thirst-quenching drink to serve alongside this pineapple dessert, you should definitely consider getting some tasty juice from pineapple. It will elevate your pineapple cookies to a whole new caliber, making dessert time worth looking forward to.

Go through the video to get basic steps for making the best pineapple cookies:

Coconut Indonesian Desserts

It’s not difficult to find out Indonesian desserts made with the presence of coconut because the grated coconut or coconut extract has its own tangy and comforting flavor that can stimulate your taste.

11. Coconut Milk Agar Jelly

I swear that you can’t stop eating the coconut milk agar jelly until it runs out. I often see this dessert used to treat at wedding parties, and almost all people love eating coconut milk, agar jelly made from coconut milk, of course, coconut water, and agar powder.

I don’t find it difficult to make this dessert because you just get through some basic steps with no time. The coconut milk agar jelly is the best if you let it chill in the fridge before serving.

12. Ongol Ongol Hunkwe (Mung Bean Flour Cake with Grated Coconut)

Grated coconut plays a role in raising the cake’s deliciousness and also contributes to the cake’s decoration. Thus it becomes an indispensable ingredient in making ongol ongol hunkwe.

These gluten and dairy-free cakes are made with mung bean and coconut sugar, then sprinkled with grated coconut.

Follow the steps in the video to finish your favorite Indonesian dessert:

13. Nagasari (Banana and Coconut Custard)

If you have sweet teeth, banana and coconut custard must be for you. Banana and coconut custard are wrapped in banana leaves that can remind you about your childhood. I think making these cakes is a perfect idea when your family gets together and enjoys free time.

What you need to make these cakes is rice flour, tapioca flour, normal coconut milk, salt, pandanus leaves, ripe plantains, and banana leaves as wrappers.

The following video will guide you on making banana and coconut custard with some simple steps:

14. Bubur Ketan Hitam (Indonesia Black Rice Porridge With Coconut Milk)

Bubur Ketan Hitam is a kind of sweet soup of Indonesian black beans topped over with coconut milk. Thus, you can serve it hot or cold; it’s up to you. Maybe you should serve it hot on cold days and vice versa.

You can cook bubur ketan hitam by yourself because it requires no patience, effort, or a lot of cooking skills. What you need to cook the dessert is black glutinous rice, water, unrefined palm sugar, coconut milk, salt, and sliced banana as garnish.

15. Kolak

Kolak is an Indonesian dessert that contains a base of palm sugar, coconut milk, pandanus leaf, jackfruit, and tapioca pearls. You can serve the dish warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Indonesian people always choose kolak to serve in Ramadan months, but you can eat the dish whenever you want.

Beverages As Indonesian Desserts

Here are some beverage ideas that you should take note of if you are interested in Indonesian desserts.

16. Jus Alpukat (Indonesian Avocado Milkshake)

There is no better suggestion than drinking a glass of Indonesian avocado milkshake after enjoying your meal with whole meat. The rich avocado flavor, the sweetness from condensed milk together with a bunch of salt is the best deal for your dessert.

You can make the Indonesian avocado milkshake and place it in the fridge to serve immediately after enjoying the meal.

17. Es Cendol

Es cendol is one of the typical traditional Indonesian desserts that has swollen green worm-like rice flour jelly, coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, jack fruits, and shaved ice. You can serve the es cendol with chocolate condensed milk and diced jack fruit of durian flesh.

You can easily find and enjoy this delicious treat on the streets of Indonesia. The cool es cendol brings you a sense of freshness; therefore, you can serve them on summer days.

18. Es Teler (Fruit Salad Drink With Coconut Meat)

One more beverage idea you can serve as dessert is a salad drink made with delicious Indonesian fruit and coconut meat. The drink is a combination of sweet coconut water, pandan syrup, diced avocado, diced jackfruit, coconut flesh, and crushed ice.

I think the drink is the best deal to finish your family meals when you get the freshness and deliciousness.

Other Indonesian Desserts

Besides cakes and sweet soup, there are many other Indonesian desserts that can come from snacks or dumplings. They are as impressive and delicious as the others.

19. Wajik (Sticky Rice in Palm Sugar)

Another Indonesian dessert idea comes from sticky rice in palm sugar. The dessert is suitable for those who are super into sweet cakes or some stuff like this.

Indonesian sticky rice cakes are made from only four ingredients like coconut milk, white sticky rice, palm sugar, and pandan leaves.

You can serve them at the temperature or store them in the fridge for next use, but remember to leave them to return to normal temperature.

20. Pisang Goreng (Indonesian Fried Banana)

After enjoying the main savories, would you like to eat something crispy? If yes, Indonesian fried bananas are what you should try.

What you need to make Indonesian fried bananas are a unique banana type called saba, rice flour, baking powder, and baking soda. All the ingredients join together to create the crispy edges but the sweet and tender texture inside.

Is There Any Indonesian Dessert I Have Missed?

You have run through 20 ideas about Indonesian desserts that are easy, flavorful, delicious, and worth eating in your meals; however, I cannot help you cover all the most distinctive and impressive Indonesian desserts.

Thus, if you realize that your favorite Indonesian desserts are not listed here, you can leave their names in the comment section below. I will add them to the list when I get the chance again. And if you think that my article is informative and valuable to you, share it.