Throwback Desserts From The 1970s Everyone Loved

Since time immemorial, one thing has remained constant — people have a love for sweet things. As the world continues to evolve and trends shift, dessert lovers have found many creative ways to make their sweet treats more flexible and adaptable. 

As a result, each decade has brought with it a trending dessert recipe of its own — and we must say, many of them have been quite intriguing. While the most recent decades have seen more health-conscious desserts, such as gluten-free brownies and keto cheesecakes, emerging as popular alternatives for those seeking indulgence without compromising their dietary goals, the 1970's were all about bold flavors, vibrant presentation, and unapologetically rich treats that brought people together at dinner parties and family gatherings.

Also, while this decade was known for bell bottoms, tie-dye, hippie vibes, and disco fever, something equally exciting was happening in the kitchen — a wave of yummy desserts was on the rise, and we're here to give you a peek inside. These desserts will not only make you wish for a 1970s comeback, but also have you rushing to grab the ingredients so you can recreate these nostalgic treats yourself.

This dessert is light, airy, and dramatic — the true diva of the dessert world — which the '70s ate it up, literally. The soufflé was easily one of the most popular desserts of the '70s. A very delicious recipe for it is the sweetcorn, rosemary, and smoked cheddar soufflé which is made using unsalted butter, polenta, corn on the cobs, onion, garlic, rosemary leaves, vegetable stock, smoked cheddar, smoked paprika, and eggs. After heating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and generously buttering the soufflé dish, sprinkle the polenta into the dish, rotating it until it is evenly coated. Next up, you'll need to boil the cobs until they're soft enough for the kernels to be easily sliced away. 

In a heated pan, you'll want to add the butter, and shortly after, the onions, garlic, and rosemary — with salt and pepper seasoning as well. Cook it all for a bit then add in the corn kernels and vegetable stock, then allow the mixture to simmer for a bit. You'll need to then purée this mixture before adding cheese, smoked paprika and egg yolks to it. After beating the egg whites into soft pillowy peaks, fold in the purée mixture, keeping it as light and airy as possible. The scent of deliciousness should be calling you at this point. Finally, add the mixture into a soufflé dish, run a knife around the edges (for a top hat effect), scatter a bit of cheese on top, and bake. The results will have you so confused on why this dessert isn't as popular as it used to be.

This variety of chocolate cake layered with whipped cream and cherries was another very popular dessert from the '70s. The great thing about this dessert is that it still has a place at our tables and is a comfort food for many. To whip this one up, you'll need butter, caster sugar, self-rising flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and eggs. For the filling and decorations, you'll need some cherry jam, sour dried cherries, kirsch, cherry brandy, double cream, dark chocolate, and fresh cherries. 

After preheating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and coating your baking tin, add all ingredients into a food processor and blend them until the mixture is smooth and thick. This will result in more than enough batter for multiple trays which you will add into the trays and bake until the cakes are nicely risen. Since a Black Forest cake is essentially a layered cake, you'll need to create a filling as well, generously layering it on the cakes, and adding cream and fresh cherries on the top layer.

Bundt cakes were a '70s potluck staple, thanks to those fancy pans and endless flavor combos. This cake gave people the room to really try out their creative juices and come up with all sorts of designs for them. Whether it was Christmas season, Halloween, or Easter, Bundt cakes were always a staple at people's tables. This decade was a fun decade as there were many Bundt cake recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth. The pear Bundt cake was a perfect way to start the fall season with its fresh pears and sweet syrup. 

It's a very easy to make cake that involves sliced pears, white cake mix, egg whites, eggs, and confectioner's sugar. Take all the ingredients, starting with the pears, and add them to a mixing bowl and slowly beat on slow speed for 30 seconds. Then beat it at high speed for 4 minutes. Once that is done, add the butter to a coated fluted tube pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 to 55 minutes until the cake comes out looking clean and voila, you have yourself a yummy '70s throwback on your dinner table.

Although it's referred to as a Watergate salad, back in the '70s, this delicious dessert was called the Pistachio Pineapple Delight. The name was changed after a food editor from Chicago coined the name during the same time that the presidential scandal was a hot topic. This dessert is a combination of pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, whipped topping, and marshmallows and was a hit because not only was it delicious, but very easy to make as well. This made busy moms and last minutes have a go to dessert that was literally a savior during holiday seasons. Everyone loved making it since it literally takes less than five minutes to make. 

It's true, all you simply need to do to get this flavorful dessert is mix the ingredients together. Next, you'll slowly fold in the whipped cream, and refrigerate the mixture for approximately two hours before serving it to your guests. This dessert was somewhat sweet, creamy, and full of fun textures — a quirky little salad that didn't pretend to be healthy. It was also served in glass bowls or retro Tupperware. Watergate salad was a familiar sight at Easter brunches, church picnics, and backyard barbecues. Decades later, its pastel green color and vintage vibe still bring back a sense of nostalgia for simpler times.

It's no surprise that the Mississippi mud pie was a hit in the 1970s with its rich, gooey layers of chocolate decadence. Apparently, the name was inspired by the sludge of the Mississippi River mud which closely resembles the dense, chocolate layers of the pie. Some people refer to it as the Chocolate Lasagna because of how it is layered just the way you would do it when making lasagna. It's also a dessert that was very easy to put together — a common theme with the other desserts from the same era. The ingredients needed for a basic, yet delicious, version of it are cream cheese, chocolate pudding mix, whipped topping, and chocolate pecans. Then you'll simply need to layer the ingredients correctly. 

Very little to no baking was required for many recipe versions, which made it perfect for hot summer days when turning on the oven was the last thing anyone wanted to do. The result was a cool, silky, melt-in-your-mouth treat that left chocoholics like some of us in heaven. Whether it was served in a casserole dish or sliced neatly onto dessert plates, the Mississippi mud pie never failed to impress. It was messy, indulgent, and absolutely perfect — the kind of dessert that made you go back for seconds without hesitation.

These creamy, frozen treats made snack time in the 1970s extra cool. A lot of adverts were being made about them, and were often advertised by popular figures of that time. If you were seen munching on one, you were automatically allowed to hang with the cool kids. They were also ready to eat straight from the freezer which made them a perfect grab-and-go treat during hot summer days. These delicious treats were a hit as soon as they were introduced in the '70s and went on to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars for its manufacturers within the first five years only. While the pudding pops were especially popular with kids, adults couldn't resist them either. 

They came in different flavors like banana, chocolate, vanilla, and swirl, with that smooth, creamy texture that set them apart from traditional ice pops. Parents loved that they felt like a better alternative to other frozen snacks, and kids were just obsessed with their taste. The combination of creamy pudding and icy refreshment was genius — simple, nostalgic, and totally satisfying — making us wonder about the real reason pudding pops were discontinued.

This dessert was created by a French chef, George Auguste Escoffier, for an Australian opera singer called Nellie Melba and was found in nearly every dessert menu of the '70s. While there are so many theories about why the chef was inspired to create this dessert, one thing is certain — it is very delicious and the people from the 1970s agree. It is made using very ripe and juicy peaches, vanilla ice cream, and a purée of sugary raspberries. The contrast of the warm peaches with the cold ice cream and the tangy raspberry sauce made it a showstopper on any dessert table.

In the '70s, this dessert found its way into home kitchens and restaurant menus alike, especially when entertaining guests or celebrating special occasions. Although it is a very simple and easy dish to make, it somehow has a regal air to it — making you feel like you're worth a million bucks as you dive into it. The peach melba was more than just a yummy dessert — it was a conversation piece and a subtle nod to culinary sophistication.

The carrot cake gained popularity in the '70s and remains a popular dessert to date. For some strange reason, people assumed that the carrot cake was a very healthy cake simply because of the use of a lot of carrots when baking it. This was totally off as the cake usually has lots of sugar in it as well as icing all around it. It was more of a sugar fest than a healthy cake. However, one thing was certain — it was ( and still is ) very delicious. The great thing about carrot cake though is that its flavor can be customized to your liking. Some added crushed pineapple for moisture, while others included raisins or chopped nuts for texture, and the spice mix could range from a subtle cinnamon to bold nutmeg and cloves. And let's not forget the star of the show — that rich, tangy cream cheese frosting that took it over the top. 

This delicious dessert is perfect for a '70s-themed party — not only because it was a staple of that groovy decade, but also because it has literally stood the test of time. Its timeless flavor and nostalgic charm make it a hit with both those who remember it from back in the day and newer generations discovering it for the first time. Carrot cake brings a fun, retro touch to any celebration while still being totally relevant (and delicious) in the present day.

This dessert was all the rage because not only was it very delicious, but it was named after a celebrity as well — which seemed to be in those days with the likes of Shirley Temples. It's a very rich dessert that is made up of layers of chocolate crust, cream cheese, whipped topping, pudding, and pecans. Apparently, Robert Redford used to be hooked on chocolate cake that was sweetened with honey, so legendary baker Maida Heatter took it upon themselves to create the perfect dessert in his honor. The result? A decadent treat that quickly earned nicknames like "Better Than Robert Redford" or "The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford" — showing just how adored both the actor and the dessert were. Even today, this dessert somehow still holds a place in retro dessert lineups and continues to wow chocolate lovers everywhere. 

To make it, you start by baking a buttery pecan crust that's usually homemade and letting it cool. Then, you spread on a fluffy cream cheese and whipped topping layer, followed by a rich layer of chocolate pudding. Finally, you top it off with more whipped topping and a generous sprinkle of chopped pecans. You then chill it in the fridge for a few hours, and you've got a crowd-pleasing dessert that's as easy to make as it is to love.

This dessert is proof that a well thought out marketing campaign can literally make a cocktail go from zero to hero. While the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail emerged in the 1950s, it only gained popularity after a 1969 marketing campaign got people rushing to find recipes for it and make it — resulting in it entering the 1970s decade as the ' new kid on the block '. Bars and restaurants were hosting Harvey Wallbanger nights, so naturally people started baking Harvey Wallbanger cakes to use as they hosted other people to make them seem much cooler and in sync with the current trends. 

The cake itself is a booze-filled, citrus delight that is made with orange juice, vodka, and Galliano (the same liqueur used in the cocktail), mixed into a lovely yellow cake batter to give it a signature flavor. It's typically baked in a Bundt pan, which was also all the rage at the time, and then it is drizzled with a sweet glaze that soaks into every slice. The result is a moist, very flavorful cake with a slight kick — a conversation starter and perfect for hosting game nights. Serving Harvey Wallbanger cake on the table was an easy way to signal that you were stylish, fun, and totally on trend.

Jell-O cookies were a perfect dessert for the 1970s simply because they were colorful and vibrant — which were the vibes of the decade. These are typically made using cookie dough as the base, and a must-have ingredient is definitely different flavors of Jell-O powder! You start making them the same way you would do with normal cookies — mixing dry and wet ingredients separately, and then mixing them together when all that is done. You'll then want to separate your batter and make the number equal to the number of different Jell-O flavors that are available. After this, you kneed in your Jell-O powder, being careful not to mix the colors as you would need to get a variety of different, bright colors at the end. After this is done, you'll want to scoop tablespoon sized balls of dough and use your hands to create cookies that will be placed on a baking sheet — and straight into the oven when the sheet is full.

 The result is a tray of soft, chewy cookies bursting with fruity flavor and eye-catching color, which is a total crowd-pleaser. Each cookie carries the distinct taste of the Jell-O flavor it was mixed with, from cherry red to lime green, and even bright blue raspberry. Not only did these cookies satisfy a sweet tooth, but they also doubled as edible decor. They were really fun to make with kids, easy to customize, and absolutely screamed '70s fun. To this day, these cookies remain a nostalgic treat that brings back memories of simpler, groovier times.