Today's words · 🍰 Cakes & desserts
10 sweet German words for cake lovers
A1A2B1
No more pointing at the cake counter and hoping for the best.
Three o'clock on a Sunday, and the café counter is full of cakes. You know exactly what you want, but not what it's called, so you keep saying „Das da, bitte“ — and then miss the question about cream.
Today's ten words are all about cakes and desserts. With them you can order in a café, choose your ice cream flavour and pay a proper compliment at a friend's Kaffee und Kuchen. 🍰
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
der Kuchen
[KOO-khen]cake(Pl. die Kuchen)
📌 Möchtest du ein Stück Kuchen?
→ Would you like a piece of cake?
💡 Same Germanic root as cake 🎂 Say it with a happy throaty ch.
⚠ The plural is the same: die Kuchen.
die Vanille
[va-NIL-yuh]vanilla(no pl.)
📌 Ich nehme eine Kugel Vanille, bitte.
→ One scoop of vanilla, please.
💡 From Spanish for ‘little pod’ 🌼 Vanilla grows in pods, after all.
Bonus At the ice cream shop: Eine Kugel Vanille, bitte.
der Zucker
[TSOOK-er]sugar((pl. rare))
📌 Trinkst du den Kaffee mit Zucker?
→ Do you take sugar in your coffee?
💡 From Arabic sukkar — a cousin of sugar 🍬
Bonus sugar-free = ohne Zucker · icing sugar = der Puderzucker
das Eis
[ICE]ice cream; ice((pl. rare) · Swiss: die/das Glace · Swiss: die/das Glacé)
📌 Im Sommer essen wir viel Eis.
→ In summer we eat a lot of ice cream.
💡 Looks like ice, but in a café it means ice cream 🍦 Summer's best word.
⚠ Ice cubes are also Eis, so context decides.
der Nachtisch
[NAKH-tish]dessert(Pl. die Nachtische)
📌 Was gibt es zum Nachtisch?
→ What's for dessert?
💡 nach (after) + Tisch (table) = what comes after the meal 🍮 Dessert!
Bonus Same meaning: das Dessert · zum Nachtisch = for dessert
die Schokolade
[sho-ko-LAH-duh]chocolate(Pl. die Schokoladen)
📌 Ich esse jeden Tag ein Stück Schokolade.
→ I eat a piece of chocolate every day.
💡 Ends in -ade, like lemonade — sweet stuff 🍫
Bonus Hot chocolate is eine heiße Schokolade.
der Keks
[KAYKS]biscuit, cookie(Pl. die Kekse)
📌 Zum Tee gibt es Kekse.
→ There are biscuits with the tea.
💡 English cakes travelled to Germany and became Keks 🍪
Bonus Du gehst mir auf den Keks! = You're getting on my nerves!
der Pudding
[POOD-ing]pudding (custard-like dessert)(Pl. die Puddings)
📌 Zum Nachtisch gibt es Schokoladenpudding.
→ There's chocolate pudding for dessert.
💡 Wobbly and borrowed straight from English 🍮
⚠ German Pudding is a set, custard-style dessert, not a British steamed pudding.
die Schlagsahne
[SHLAHK-zah-nuh]whipped cream; whipping cream((no pl.) · Swiss: der Schlagrahm · Austrian: das/der Schlagobers)
📌 Möchten Sie den Kuchen mit Schlagsahne?
→ Would you like your cake with whipped cream?
💡 schlagen (beat) + Sahne (cream) = cream you beat up 🥄 Arm workout included.
Bonus In Austria: das Schlagobers
das Gebäck
[guh-BECK]pastries, biscuits, baked goods(Sg.)
📌 Zum Kaffee gibt es selbst gemachtes Gebäck.
→ Home-made biscuits are served with the coffee.
💡 From backen (bake): everything baked, bundled into one word 🥐
⚠ Usually singular only: das Gebäck
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Germany has a lovely afternoon ritual called Kaffee und Kuchen. Especially at weekends, families and friends often get together around three or four o'clock for coffee and homemade cake.
A Kuchen is usually a simpler cake, like apple cake, while the tall, layered cream cakes are called Torte. A shop that makes them, often with a café, is a Konditorei.
And if it's your birthday at work, it's often you who brings the cake for your colleagues. It surprises lots of newcomers! 🎂
✅ Quick quiz
Q. In a café, you want a slice of cake with whipped cream. What do you say?
- ① Ein Stück Kuchen mit Keks, bitte.
- ② Einen Nachtisch mit Zucker, bitte.
- ③ Ein Stück Kuchen mit Schlagsahne, bitte.
Show the answer
③ Ein Stück Kuchen mit Schlagsahne, bitte.
Schlagsahne is whipped cream, so this orders cake with cream on top.
At snack time today, order out loud: „Ein Stück Kuchen mit Schlagsahne, bitte!“ The diet can start tomorrow! 🍰
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🍳 Breakfast