The most expensive dessert we can document is Strawberries Arnaud at Arnaud’s in New Orleans, offered for $9.85 million with a 10.06-carat blue diamond ring. The dish most often called the world’s priciest is the $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate from New York. The only one we could confirm on a restaurant’s menu this year costs $1,000. Below are six extreme desserts ranked by the price their makers stated, with what each price really buys.
| Rank | Dessert | Price | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strawberries Arnaud, Valentine’s ring edition | $9.85 million | Valentine’s Day offer, announced 2016 (restaurant post dated 2018) | Arnaud’s, New Orleans |
| 2 | Lindeth Howe chocolate pudding | about $34,000 (£22,000) | 2011, by pre-order | Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel, Windermere, England |
| 3 | Frrrozen Haute Chocolate | $25,000 | added to the menu November 7, 2007 | Serendipity 3, New York |
| 4 | Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence | $14,500 | 2007 | The Fortress Resort and Spa, Koggala, Sri Lanka |
| 5 | Golden Opulence Sundae | $1,000 | current menu, 2026 | Serendipity 3, New York |
| 6 | Black Diamond ice cream scoop | about $817 (3,000 dirhams) per scoop | launch, 2015 | Scoopi Cafe, Dubai |
A warning before the list: these are stunt prices. Many include jewelry, were one-off offers, and are not on a menu today. We say which is which.
1. Strawberries Arnaud, Valentine’s ring edition: $9.85 million
Arnaud’s, New Orleans, Valentine’s Day offer, announced 2016 (restaurant post dated 2018).
Strawberries Arnaud is a classic dessert of berries in red wine sauce over ice cream. For Valentine’s Day, the restaurant paired it with a 10.06-carat natural fancy royal blue diamond ring from a French Quarter antiques dealer, and priced the plate at $9.85 million.
The dessert itself is on the regular menu for a few dollars. The seven-figure price is the ring. Earlier coverage put an older version of the stunt at $1.4 million with a pink diamond ring, so the number has moved with the jewel.
How we valued it: the restaurant’s own stated price for the ring edition, a one-off holiday offer, not a standard menu item, and we found no 2026 listing.
2. Lindeth Howe chocolate pudding: about $34,000 (£22,000)
Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel, Windermere, England, 2011, by pre-order.
A chocolate pudding with edible gold leaf and a two-carat diamond buried in it. It needed about three weeks’ notice. A British customer bought it for his 60th birthday.
The hotel’s price topped the New York sundae at the time. We found no sign that the hotel still sells it.
How we valued it: price reported at launch in 2011, converted at about the dollar value quoted then.
3. Frrrozen Haute Chocolate: $25,000
Serendipity 3, New York, added to the menu November 7, 2007.
A frozen hot chocolate made from a blend of 28 cocoas, 14 of them among the most expensive in the world, topped with 5 grams of edible 23-karat gold. It arrives in a gold-lined goblet on an 18-karat gold bracelet set with one carat of white diamonds, with a gold spoon you keep.
Most of the $25,000 is jewelry. The record keepers list it as the most expensive dessert. It no longer appears on the restaurant’s current menu, where the frozen hot chocolates cost $15.95 to $24.95.
How we valued it: price recorded when the record was set and still listed by the record keeper. It has left the regular menu.
4. Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence: $14,500
The Fortress Resort and Spa, Koggala, Sri Lanka, 2007.
A sabayon made with champagne, gold and silver leaf, a chocolate fisherman figure on a stilt, and an 80-carat aquamarine stone. The resort blamed the price on the champagne, the leaf and the gem.
At launch, nobody had ordered it. We could not confirm that it is still offered.
How we valued it: launch price from 2007 press coverage, treated as historical.
5. Golden Opulence Sundae: $1,000
Serendipity 3, New York, current menu, 2026.
Vanilla ice cream with edible 23-karat gold flakes, a chocolate drizzle and a small bowl of caviar, served in a crystal goblet. You order it in advance, and you keep the goblet and an 18-karat gold bracelet, according to published descriptions.
This is the one item here we could confirm on a restaurant menu this year. At $1,000 it sits far below the show pieces above, and well above the $15 to $30 sundaes on the same page.
How we valued it: price printed on the restaurant’s own online menu, which also notes advance ordering.
6. Black Diamond ice cream scoop: about $817 (3,000 dirhams) per scoop
Scoopi Cafe, Dubai, launch, 2015.
One scoop of Madagascar vanilla ice cream with Iranian saffron, black truffle and 23-karat gold flakes, served in a Versace bowl you take home.
The launch coverage reported the price at 3,000 dirhams. A 2021 report still quoted that figure, but we could not confirm today’s price.
How we valued it: launch price from 2015 press coverage, converted to dollars at that time.
What changed since our last list
We dropped dessert claims we could not trace to the maker or a dated report, including a reported $35 million pirate-ship cake, a reported platinum cake and the royal wedding cake. The Serendipity 3 menu now lists the Golden Opulence Sundae at $1,000, and its everyday sundaes run $20 to $30.
What drives these prices
- Jewelry, not food: The biggest numbers are rings, bracelets and gems that come with the plate.
- Records sell: A world-record claim fills a restaurant for years.
- Few orders: Dishes that need weeks of notice are made to be talked about, not eaten.
- Gold leaf is cheap: Edible gold adds the look of luxury for a modest cost.
The habits that let people afford this
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What is the most expensive dessert in the world?
The highest price we found is $9.85 million for Arnaud’s Valentine’s edition of Strawberries Arnaud, almost all of it a diamond ring. The record keepers list the $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate in New York as the most expensive dessert.
Can you still order the $25,000 dessert?
Not from the restaurant’s current menu, which lists frozen hot chocolates for $15.95 to $24.95. The gold-and-diamond version was a 2007 record item.
What is the most expensive dessert you can order today?
On a current official menu, the one we confirmed is the $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae at Serendipity 3 in New York, which must be ordered in advance.
Why are these desserts so expensive?
Mostly the jewelry, the gold leaf and the publicity. The food is a small part of the price, and the dishes are often made to win a record.
Do people actually buy them?
Some do. A customer bought the Lindeth Howe pudding in 2011. For others, such as the Sri Lankan sabayon, early reports said no one had ordered it yet.
What is a good luxury dessert for a normal budget?
The restaurant’s own sundaes and cakes run about $15 to $30. A gold-leaf finish is a cheap way to add a luxury touch.
How we put this list together
We ranked desserts by the price their makers or published records stated, using the restaurants’ own pages and dated reports compiled in our internal valuation model. Prices are approximate, many are historical, and menus change.
Keep reading
See our most expensive pancakes ever made and our most expensive alcoholic drinks in the world for more extreme menus.
Last updated: October 2026.
