5 Vintage Dessert Dishware To Add To Your Collection

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A great dessert can be the show-stopping end to a multi-course meal. Pair this important course with equally attractive vintage dessert dishware to uplift your food and double down on your treats' novelty. Vintage pieces, in particular, can add charming or cool nostalgic elements to the setting, even if more modern versions are available.

A versatile yet humble dessert plate is perhaps the most important way to serve countless end-of-meal dishes, like a classic slice of cake. You can even keep that cake on a vintage cake stand set, ideally with a dome to protect it from the elements.

Ice cream bowls are another must-have that allows you to collect fun, funky, or downright weird vintage pieces, depending on your tastes. And although many people make do with regular cutlery, dessert forks and spoons are ideal for savoring every bite. Finally, don't forget to wash it all down with a nice cordial served in equally memorable vintage cordial glasses.

If you're building your dessert dishware collection from scratch, you might as well start with the basics. Dessert plates are usually smaller than salad plates, better complementing the typically small size of most dessert portions.

These plates are also extremely versatile — they're perfect for serving cakes, donuts, pies, cookies, brownies, and more. While dessert plates are mostly flat, they may also feature a slight rim along the outside. This is meant to prevent any liquid sauces or fillings, like a raspberry drizzle over vanilla cheesecake, from dripping onto the table.

Historically, dessert plates were ornately decorated to match the special nature of such a rich ending to a multi-course feast. Vintage dessert plates may be available in patterned dish sets, one of the retro kitchen items coming back into style in 2025. Depending on the era, this can mean blue and white florals, groovy mid-century designs, etched glass, and more.

Vintage cake stands are a must-have for a retro dessert dishware collection, especially if they come with a matching dome. While there are plenty of modern cake stand sets out there, the simple act of placing a cake on a pedestal can have a retro feeling due to cake stands' popularity throughout several historical design eras.

Getting a cake stand with a dome is ideal, as the covering helps protect the cake from dust and other debris and slows the staling process. Clear domes will display the food inside, though many vintage designs use opaque lids. Since direct sun exposure can melt icing and evaporate moisture, opaque domes are actually better for maximizing your dessert's freshness.

Modern cake stand sets often pale in comparison to the liveliness and whimsy of retro options, whose unique designs serve as their own conversation pieces in addition to your meal's final course. For instance, the return of vintage '70s kitchen decor also means the return of colors like mustard yellow and avocado green, common finds in the cake stands of that decade.

You may be surprised to learn that ice cream is an ancient dessert, with roots old enough that its exact origin is uncertain. Although it's no longer necessarily the extravagant treat it was in the pre-refrigeration era, ice cream (and related frozen desserts like sherbet) are still special enough for their own dishware.

Much like diminutive dessert plates, ice cream bowls are typically small, meant to accompany small yet delicious servings. A couple scoops of ice cream simply look more satisfying in an appropriately sized ice cream bowl than in the larger bowls in your kitchen.

These dishes are especially great for leaning into the childlike fun of an ice cream dessert, like in retro pieces that may visually resemble colorful ice cream cones. But vintage pieces of this type can also send you back to ice cream's more luxurious days by featuring short stems that physically elevate the dessert like it's on a pedestal.

We've all eaten a dessert way too quickly because it was just that irresistibly delicious. And in the same way that smaller dessert plates and ice cream bowls are meant for small servings, dessert forks and spoons are perfect for the small bites these dishes deserve. After all, it's hard to eat too fast when you can only eat a little bit at a time.

Like other entries on this list, there are plenty of modern designs for dessert utensils as well, but vintage pieces hold a particular appeal connected to this course's former exclusivity. Before industrialization made dessert more economically accessible for everyone, it was most common among the wealthy, who liked to display their riches through dedicated utensils. In addition to their beauty, these items were also practical, like the flattened tine on the edge of a dessert fork, meant for cutting bites of cake without a knife. High-quality examples of these vintage pieces survive today and can lend your table an unmatched air of elegance.

The best way to end a dessert course is arguably by washing it down with a sweet little something. Accordingly, the final entry on this list concerns cordials: small, sweet, usually alcoholic drinks that complement the dessert course, though they sometimes serve as dessert on their own. Cordials can also be small cherry- or liquid-filled chocolates, like in this recipe for peanut butter cookies with moonshine cordials. For the all-liquid kind, however, vintage glasses are the perfect vessel.

Cordials traditionally focus on their base flavors by containing relatively little alcohol, but they shine in throwback glassware, boozy or not. Modern versions of this item often use clean lines and clear glass, almost like large shot glasses or small wine glasses, but vintage pieces offer much more personality.

Retro versions often come in sets with different colors or designs between each glass, especially midcentury modern designs, which speak to the bold colors of the era. These older pieces offer a more fun, party-like atmosphere than modern monoliths and are likely to stick in your guests' heads just as long as their delicious drinks.