10 Easy Desserts You Can Enjoy on the Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is all about moderation, which means dessert is hardly out of the question. Ingredients such as fresh fruit, olive oil, and yogurt are staples when it comes to sweets, resulting in desserts that are light, fresh, and full of flavor. Like so much of Mediterranean cooking, desserts are rarely complicated, often coming together in one bowl with just a few ingredients. Here are 10 of our favorite Mediterranean dessert recipes.

Cornmeal adds a wonderful texture to this tender olive oil cake. While blood oranges lend vibrant color, regular oranges can be substituted — as can Cara Cara, which have a pink flesh, if you can find them.

Get the recipe: Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

Berries make a delicious and light dessert. But they’re not quite as sweet when they aren’t in season. Draw out their sweetness by letting them marinate in balsamic vinegar.

Get the recipe: Balsamic Berries with Honey Yogurt

This bright, citrusy cake is naturally gluten-free, thanks to a combination of almond flour and polenta. One slice is perfect all on its own, but a dollop of whipped cream never hurts.

Get the recipe: Sticky Gluten-Free Lemon Cake

Working with phyllo dough may seem intimidating, but it’s actually much easier than you think. The trick is to keep the layers of dough moist under a damp towel or plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.

Get the recipe: Honeyed Phyllo Stacks with Pistachios, Spiced Fruit & Yogurt

This is a bit like a Mediterranean take on crême brûlée. Mix ricotta with honey and lemon zest, pile it into ramekins, sprinkle the top with sugar, and broil until golden and bubbling.

Get the recipe: Brûléed Ricotta

The combination of yogurt, honey, and olive oil ensures this just-sweet-enough cake is as moist as can be. That also means it will stay fresh for days.

Get the recipe: Yogurt and Honey Olive Oil Cake

This Italian-style carrot cake isn’t the cream cheese frosting-laden version you’re used to. It’s a simple, rustic cake that’s flavored with citrus zest and nutmeg and is best enjoyed mid-afternoon with a cup of coffee or tea.

Get the recipe: Domenica Marchetti’s Carrot Polenta Cake with Marsala

Whipping yogurt with heavy cream transforms it into a mousse-like treat that doesn’t need much more than a few warm, cinnamon-spiced apples to make it dessert.

Get the recipe: Whipped Yogurt with Apples and Walnuts

The dough for these warm, nutty shortbread cookies comes together in just five minutes in one bowl. The shortbread only takes 20 minutes to bake, so this is as about as fast as it gets.

Get the recipe: Hazelnut & Olive Oil Shortbread

Save some of the juice left behind after cutting up your brûléed fruit, instead of pouring it down the drain. Toss it in brown sugar and use to sweeten the creamy yogurt sauce here.

Get the recipe: Brûléed Fruit with Mascarpone Yogurt Sauce