Chocolate Lover’s Guide to Chocolate Desserts at Universal Orlando Resort

I don’t like desserts… I love desserts! And chocolate ones are my favorite. Good thing Universal Orlando Resort is a chocoholics’ paradise. Cake. Pie. Cookies. Pastries. Doughnuts. Ice cream. Candy. Shakes. Even bread pudding and crème brûlée! Universal has got it all.

I’ve enjoyed some of these desserts many times. Others I just tasted for the first time, purely for research purposes, of course (who says your research can’t taste good?). So here’s a guide to all the ways to indulge in chocolate at Universal Orlando Resort:

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Universal Epic Universe

Mt. Beanpole Cake

Location: Toadstool Cafe in SUPER NINTENDO WORLD

Do you remember those Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches from when you were a kid with three different kinds of ice cream? This is just like that in cake form: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry layer cake topped with matcha (green tea) mousse. It tastes just like childhood!

Yaknog

Location: Mead Hall in How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk

Confession time: My favorite kind of desserts may be chocolate, but cinnamon is a close second. Yaknog combines both: malted chocolate and cinnamon with whipped marshmallow fluff topping. A perfect accompaniment to a Viking feast!

Sweet Suggestion: Before or after your refreshingly sweet beverage, catch the unforgettable live show, The Untrainable Dragon, which is right nearby. Seriously, it will make you feel like a five-year-old who believes in dragons. Check the Universal Orlando Resort App for the latest showtimes. I recommend getting in the queue a half hour early.

Black Forest Cake

Location: Le Gobelet Noir in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

At Le Gobelet Noir, you’ll find a chocolate delicacy: the Black Forest Cake, a cherry soaked chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and cherries encased in a crispy-crunchy chocolate shell.

Passion Fruit “Caviar”

Location: Atlantic Restaurant in Celestial Park

If you think chocolate and fruit are made for each other, this dessert is for you! It combines chocolate pain de genes (French chocolate almond cake), hazelnut crunch, chocolate mousse and passion fruit “caviar.” Bonus: You can brag to all your friends that you just ate caviar. No need to mention it was made of fruit.

Sweet Suggestion: If you’ve got kids or are a fan of cinnamon, try Landlubber’s Snickerdoodle Loot. It’s got snickerdoodle cake in a souvenir beach pail with cookie butter ganache, edible sand, starfish butter cookies and gummy sharks. Plus, a souvenir plastic shovel to eat it with. It’s almost too cute to eat, yet somehow I managed.

Brownie Eclipse

Location: Pizza Moon in Celestial Park

If you’re a brownie connoisseur like my little brother, this one combines all the best things: a warm, gooey brownie, chocolate hazelnut sauce, toasted marshmallows and crushed chocolate sandwich cookies. It’s big enough to share, though you may not want to.

Captain Cacao Cookie

Location: Moonship Chocolates & Celestial Sweets in Celestial Park

So, you’re probably wondering, who on Earth (or outer space) is Captain Cacao? He’s the trusty chocolate bear navigator that helps Maya of the Skies, the chocolate shop’s young proprietress and explorer, search the cosmos to find the best desserts in the universe. That includes this heavenly frosted chocolate sugar cookie shaped like the ursine navigator. I polished this off before I even left the store.

PRO TIP: Moonship Chocolates & Celestial Sweets is located right near the entrance to Universal Epic Universe, so it’s ideal if you want a little nibble when you arrive or some sweet treats for the road. You can even take home Captain Cacao in plush form with his cute little blue and yellow hat. He’s so adorable, he’ll just melt your heart like chocolate!

Universal Studios Florida

Chocolate Pastry

Location: TODAY Cafe in Hollywood

There’s always some kind of wonderful, freshly baked chocolate delight at TODAY Cafe. Pop in to see the latest options. And if you want to feel virtuous before devouring a dessert, swing by for lunch and try the wonderful kale salad with oven-roasted chicken, apples, and goat cheese.

Chocolate and Chocolate Chili Hard-Packed Ice-Cream

Location: Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Diagon Alley

The chocolate ice-cream here is exceptionally good, especially in a waffle cone. For the more adventurous chocolate fans, I recommend trying the chocolate chili — aka chocolate with a kick. And since you get to choose two flavors when you order the hard-packed ice cream, you can try both!

SWEET SUGGESTION: You can watch the dragon atop Gringotts Wizarding Bank breathing fire right outside the ice-cream parlor. Don’t worry, it won’t melt your frozen dessert!

Gru Specialty Ice Pop

Location: Freeze Ray Pops in Illumination’s Minion Land

There’s nothing like an ice-cold dessert on a hot summer day! My go-to is the refreshingly villainous Gru Specialty Ice Pop, a chocolate hazelnut frozen delight. It reminds me of those fudge ice pops I used to get at the ice cream truck at my neighborhood pool when I was a kid, only better.

Universal Islands of Adventure

Sundae on a Stick

Location: Hop on Pop Ice Cream Shop in Seuss Landing

An ice-cream bar hand-dipped in chocolate with a vanilla-ice-cream center is a hallmark of childhood. Here, you can get it with toppings like nuts, rainbow, or chocolate sprinkles. As a chocolate lover, my favorite is chocolate on chocolate. And the shop is just a hop, skip, and a jump from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish for all you kids and kids-at-heart.

Chocolate Frogs and Peppermint Toads

Location: Honeydukes in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Hogsmeade

Chocolate Frogs are a quintessential wizarding treat, a large milk chocolate candy in individual boxes, each with a wizarding trading card inside. I also love Peppermint Toads, bite-sized dark chocolate mint sweets (apparently, toad-shaped chocolate is my thing.) Both treats are a great way to cap off a ride on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in Hogsmeade.

SWEET SUGGESTION:  You can also find Chocolate Frogs and Peppermint Toads in Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Diagon Alley at Universal Studios and at K. Ramelle in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic at Universal Epic Universe.

Chocolate Banana Gooey Cake

Location: Mythos Restaurant

Chocolate and bananas or chocolate and peanut butter? It’s an impossible choice! Luckily, this warm flourless chocolate cake combines all three. It’s drizzled with caramel sauce, served with peanut butter ice cream and topped with candied bananas.

With award-winning food and a central location between Seuss Landing and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Hogsmeade, Mythos is one of my top lunch/sweet spots. So, if you feel like having something to eat before this much-awaited dessert, I recommend the Fork, Knife and Spoon Grilled Cheese or the Pad Thai.

Swirled Ice Cream

Location: Chill Ice Cream in Marvel Super Hero Island

If you’re a defender of ice cream, then this is a must-try in Marvel Super Hero Island. The dessert is a perfect blend of creamy chocolate and vanilla soft-serve ice cream. Ask to have your swirl on a freshly-made crisp wafer cone for the best experience. It’ll sure cool you down after your thrilling ride on The Incredible Hulk Coaster and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. Oh, and don’t forget to snap a selfie with Iceman right outside this cool walk-up counter.

Universal Volcano Bay

Chocolate Lava Cake

Location: Kohola Reef Restaurant & Social Club

Do you know what’s even better than a giant volcano? A giant volcano made of chocolate cake with molten melted chocolate in the middle! You’ll work up quite an appetite between riding the waves at Waturi Beach, rafting through TeAwa the Fearless River and laughing at people screaming down Ko’okiri Body Plunge.

Universal CityWalk

Triple Chocolate Bread Pudding

Location: The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

This is the first stop for any self-respecting chocoholic. I may have actually cried tears of joy when this place opened. This dessert answers the age-old question of whether dark, milk or white chocolate is the best. Answer: all three! It one-ups your average bread pudding since it’s made with dark, milk, and white chocolate cake. And it’s served with white chocolate ice cream. Yum!

Cocoa Coq au Vin

Location: The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

I bet you were thinking I’d only cover chocolate desserts — surprise! This place is worth another mention (and multiple visits) for all the wonderful savory options, too. I love a good pun (“Coq au” is pronounced like “cocoa”), especially one that tastes as good as this!

This pun-omenal (sorry, I had to) dish features a red wine chocolate sous vide airline chicken breast served with gruyére mashed potatoes, baby carrots, grilled cippolini onions and chocolate red wine demi-glace. I love how the demi and juices from the chicken soak into the veggies, giving them even more flavor. If you still feel like there’s room for more chocolate, top your meal with a Brownie Bark Sundae.

SWEET SUGGESTION: If you’re just coming for a Chocolate X5 milkshake, head to the ice cream parlor to the left when you walk through the door (oh, in case you’re wondering why it’s called Chocolate X5, it’s literally because you get your chocolate fix in five different ways: chocolate ice cream, chocolate chunks, chocolate sauce, whipped chocolate topping, and chocolate spirals). Or if you’re over 21, head to the bar upstairs for a Too Chocolate Stout, one of many choc-tails. No need to ask for a table in the restaurant.

Old Chocolate Fashioned

Location: The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

Ok, this is not technically a dessert. But it had to make the list, as it’s a delicious and lush chocolate treat. It’s no surprise that chocolate and bourbon go great together, but when you add cherry liqueur and orange bitters it’s just a match made in chocolate heaven.

Skillet Baked Chocolate Cake

Location: Bigfire

The tableside s’mores get all the attention, and with good reason, but my favorite dessert here is this rich flourless chocolate cake with bourbon ice cream and cherries. I like coming for dinner (love the BBQ shrimp with cornbread) and dessert after a weekend matinee at Universal Cinemark.

SWEET SUGGESTION: If you’re feeling extra-chocolatey, order a hot chocolate on the side. The drink comes with tiny marshmallows and you can ask to have them torched so it’s suuuper creamy.

Chocolate Old-Fashioned and Diablos Rex Doughnuts

Location: Voodoo Doughnut Orlando

I’m a sucker for a classic cake doughnut with chocolate frosting. And if you want something devilishly decadent, go for the Diablos Rex: a chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate frosting, red sprinkles, and a pentagram-shaped vanilla drizzle with chocolate chips in the middle.

Universal Orlando Hotels

The Kitchen Sink Cake

Location: The Kitchen at Hard Rock Hotel

It’s what other desserts want to be when they grow up. This rock star cake has seven layers: brownie, peanut butter, chocolate chunk cookie, pecan pie, vanilla cheesecake, devil’s food chocolate cake, vanilla chiffon, plus chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. This could easily feed a family of four #FoodComa.

Mount Vesuvius

Location: Bar Helios at Universal Helios Grand Hotel, A Loews Hotel

70% Chocolate fondant, olive oil gelato, spicy caramel sauce, and sesame tuile. 100% delicious. This chocolate lover’s dream pairs perfectly with Bar Helios’ incredible, bird’s-eye view of Universal Epic Universe!

Chocolate Torte

Location: Cosmos Cafe and Market at Universal Stella Nova Resort and Omega Cafe and Market at Universal Terra Luna Resort

I’ve got three words for you: chocolate cookie crunch! That’s the tasty tongue-twister adorning the outside of this luscious three-layer chocolate cake topped with a chocolate drizzle. Chocolate cake can sometimes be too rich for me, but this one is just right!

Chocolate and Stracciatella Gelato

Location: Gelateria at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel

Picture this: you’re lounging on an Italian piazza overlooking a sparkling bay, listening to live opera as you enjoy a cup of rich artisanal gelato. It’s chocolate, of course, or maybe Stracciatella, a creamy flavor infused with shreds of dark chocolate.

Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake

Location: Islands Dining Room at Loews Royal Pacific Resort

Served with raspberry coulis, this cake isn’t just tasty — it’s also vegan and gluten-free!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Lava Cake

Location: Amatista Cookhouse at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort

This magical concoction combines two of my all-time favorite desserts: a classic chocolate chip cookie filled with dark chocolate fudge ganache like a chocolate lava cake. This just goes to show, you can never have too much chocolate in a chocolate chip cookie.

That gives you a taste of some of the chocolatey deliciousness at Universal Orlando Resort. Share some of your own favorite chocolate treats in the comments below.

Must be 21 years and older with valid identification to purchase or drink alcoholic beverages.