What's the highest calorie dessert? The world's most extravagant creations

November 26, 2025 •

3 min read

With a staggering 3,845 calories in a single serving, 'The Roman Empire' sundae from CoCo Gelato in the UK is a prime contender for what's the highest calorie dessert, according to Business Insider. This impressive figure highlights the extreme indulgence some dessert creators pursue, stacking multiple high-fat, high-sugar components into one monstrous dish.

Quick Summary

This article explores the most calorific desserts globally, examining the indulgent creations and extreme food challenges that hold record-breaking calorie counts due to massive portions and rich ingredients.

Key Points

"The Roman Empire" Sundae: A dish from CoCo Gelato in the UK, once featured as one of the world's most calorific, contains 3,845 calories.
Factor of Ingredients: Desserts become extremely high in calories by combining multiple fat-rich ingredients like heavy cream, butter, and cheese with excessive sugar and syrups.
Food Challenges: The highest calorie desserts are often designed as eating challenges or extravagant, multi-component dishes meant for sharing, not standard menu items.
Sheer Volume: Massive portion size is a primary driver of calorie counts, with some desserts featuring dozens of scoops of ice cream or multiple large waffles.
Decadent Combinations: Layering different rich sweets, such as brownies inside a sundae or cheesecake layers in a larger creation, multiplies the total calorie content significantly.

The Quest for the Highest Calorie Dessert

When most people think of dessert, they imagine a small slice of cake or a scoop of ice cream. However, some desserts are crafted on an epic scale, combining multiple high-fat and high-sugar ingredients to create calorific behemoths. These creations are often designed as eating challenges or extravagant showpieces, pushing the boundaries of what a single-serving dessert can contain.

The Anatomy of a Calorie-Dense Dessert

Several key factors contribute to a dessert's high-calorie count, moving beyond standard cakes and pies. The fundamental principle is a combination of quantity and ingredient density.

Fat-heavy ingredients: The most calorie-dense macro-nutrient is fat, providing approximately 9 calories per gram. Desserts rich in heavy cream, full-fat cheeses (as in cheesecakes), butter, and peanut butter are inherently high in calories.
Excessive sugar: Sugar adds sweetness and a significant number of carbohydrates, which contain about 4 calories per gram. Desserts with multiple sauces, syrups, and sugary toppings accumulate calories quickly.
Massive portions: Food challenges and shareable desserts often contain dozens of scoops of ice cream, multiple waffles, or massive quantities of pancake batter.
Combination of sweets: Layering desserts, like placing brownies inside a sundae or macaroons inside a giant chocolate orb, multiplies the overall calorie count dramatically.

The Contenders: Desserts with Record-Breaking Calories

While home-baked goods and standard restaurant fare can be high in calories, the true record-holders are often found in specialty dessert shops known for their outrageous creations. Here are some of the most famous examples:

"The Roman Empire" at CoCo Gelato

This dessert from Cardiff, UK, has been widely cited for its extreme calorie count. It is not merely a single dessert but a massive indulgence for multiple people, featuring:

18 scoops of ice cream
Four fresh waffles
Warm brownies
Fresh fruit
Various chocolate bars
Lashings of whipped cream
Multiple sauces and syrups

"Supreme Sundaes" at MO & MOSHI

Found in Bangkok, Thailand, these are custom-made, towering desserts that pack a serious caloric punch. They typically include up to 22 scoops of ice cream, along with waffles, fruit, chocolate bars, custard, cream, and other toppings chosen by the customer.

Extreme Croissant

In a 2023 YouTube video, a visit to Philip Kuchini featured an outrageously massive croissant weighing 1.2 kg and containing a reported 4,900 calories. This highlights how even a single pastry, when massively oversized and filled with butter, can exceed the calorie count of many complete meals.

Calorie Comparison: A Look at Decadent Desserts


Dessert Item	Calories (approx.)	Key Calorie Sources
"The Roman Empire" (CoCo Gelato)	3,845	Ice cream, waffles, brownies, whipped cream
"Supreme Sundaes" (MO & MOSHI)	3,587	Ice cream, custard, waffles, chocolate
"Milky Whey Challenge" (Palačinkarnica Milky)	2,388	Pancakes, melted chocolate, ice cream
"S'moreffles Supreme Challenge" (Workbench Bistro)	2,380	Waffles, marshmallows, chocolate sauce, whipped cream
Carrot Cake (Restaurant Portion)	Up to 1,400	Oil, butter, cream cheese frosting
Brownie Sundae (Restaurant Portion)	Over 1,200	Brownie, ice cream, fudge, whipped cream

Why these desserts are so high in calories

As the comparison table shows, the highest calorie desserts achieve their legendary status through a combination of sheer volume and ingredient density. They don't just use one or two rich components; they pile many on top of each other. The Roman Empire, for instance, includes a multi-tiered foundation of waffles and ice cream, then layers on brownies, chocolate bars, and creamy sauces. A typical slice of restaurant carrot cake, while still high in calories, relies on the density of its cream cheese frosting and rich batter to reach its total, but it doesn't compare to the multi-part structure of a dessert challenge.

Conclusion: The Ultimate Calorie Crown

Ultimately, defining what's the highest calorie dessert can be difficult because the most calorific ones are often extreme, custom-made, or limited-edition food challenges rather than standard menu items. While many claim the title, the most notorious examples, like 'The Roman Empire' sundae, demonstrate a clear trend: excessive portion sizes combined with multiple layers of high-fat and high-sugar components like ice cream, waffles, brownies, and heavy cream. For anyone seeking a truly decadent and high-calorie dessert, looking for a challenge-style offering at a specialty shop is the surest way to find it. Just be prepared to share—or risk a serious sugar rush. You can explore more examples of extravagant desserts on sites like Business Insider.

Frequently Asked Questions

Desserts with the highest calorie counts typically use ingredients high in fat and sugar, such as heavy cream, butter, full-fat cheese, and multiple scoops of ice cream, along with sugary sauces and toppings.

While many restaurant desserts can be quite high in calories (e.g., brownie sundaes or rich carrot cakes), the extreme, record-breaking examples are typically found at specialized dessert parlors or as part of specific food challenges.

'The Roman Empire' is a famous, high-calorie dessert from CoCo Gelato in Cardiff, UK, known for its mix of 18 scoops of ice cream, waffles, brownies, and other toppings, resulting in 3,845 calories.

A standard slice of cheesecake can be very high in calories due to its rich ingredients like cream cheese and sugar. In contrast, a restaurant's oversized slice of a layered cheesecake can be significantly more calorific.

Other examples include the custom 'Supreme Sundaes' from MO & MOSHI in Thailand (3,587 calories) and massive challenge-style crêpes and waffles found at various food outlets around the world.

While a standard croissant is not typically the highest, a massively oversized, special-edition croissant, such as the 1.2 kg version mentioned in a video, can contain an enormous number of calories (4,900 calories), making it one of the highest on a per-item basis.

Standard fast-food desserts like a small milkshake or sundae are much lower in calories (e.g., 300-800 calories), although still calorie-dense. They don't approach the multi-thousand-calorie counts of the extreme creations highlighted.