10 Old-School Desserts From The '80s No One Seems To Eat Anymore

The 1980s were a decade unlike any other. As well as giving the world Madonna, "Back to the Future," and laserdiscs, they were also an incredible time for foodies. Although the combination of soda and Pop Rocks was a rollercoaster for our tastebuds, and biting into a Hot Pocket could result in a trip to the ER might be counted as lows, there were some delicious highs, too.

Tasty finger foods like pizza rolls and potato skins were everywhere, kids who had Lunchables were royalty of the school cafeteria, and microwaveable T.V. dinners were the only way to eat. Eighties foodies looking to move away from desserts they loved in the 1970s embraced the new tastes, and trends as quickly as they emerged, providing fertile ground for innovative brands who helped home cooks expand their repertoire of classic American recipes.

However, not all the sweet treats that were smash hits in the 1980s went the distance. Public appetite would dwindle over time and fresher, often healthier options took their place. While some iconic dishes from the era are enjoying a renaissance in the 21st century (we're looking at you, baked Alaska) others have faded from view. Here's our run-down of old-school desserts from the 1980s no one seems to eat anymore.

Hands up if you're among the home cooks who have, after lots of sweat and a few tears, decided some pastries are easier to buy than to make? Many who have tried to make éclairs will be straining to touch the ceiling, this writer included. Choux pastry is one of three important components for a classic French éclair (the others being a vanilla cream filling and a glossy, chocolate topping) and gosh darn it, choux can be a challenge to get right.

In the 1980s, someone (it's still unclear who) clearly decided they weren't going to have any of that DIY nonsense, and created a deliciously decadent, no-bake alternative that has all the spirit of the traditional éclair but none of the stress. The eclair cake is mentioned in a few 1980s newspaper articles, possibly emerging in Pittsburgh.

It certainly looked the part, even if the ingredients cost next to nothing and it took practically no time to whip up. Layers of graham cracker were sandwiched with creamy, instant vanilla pudding, and topped with a thick, chocolate coating, either from a can or home made. Eclair cakes were a hugely popular family-friendly dessert in the 1980s, but have sadly faded from the limelight since then.

In 1982, The Wall's factory in the United Kingdom launched an ice cream dessert that was supposed to be a one-off, but which mesmerized and delighted people around the world. On the face of it, the Viennetta was nothing special: multiple layers of vanilla ice cream, interspersed with thin layers of dark chocolate. It was nothing short of a work of art.

The Viennetta also looked unlike anything else in supermarket freezers: The waves and ruffles were a feast for the eyes, while the cracking sound a Viennetta made when a knife cut through it was almost deafening. Marketed as a luxury item, it screamed sophistication and elegance and, as myself and any other '80s poor kid will tell you, tasting a slice of Viennetta was an event with a capital "E" — even if, to be honest, the flavor wasn't really all that.

Other varieties soon followed as Walls sought to capitalize on the dessert's popularity, including mint and lemon, and it wasn't long before the Viennetta was exported to the United States. For inexplicable reasons, it didn't have quite the same earth-shattering impact. Thankfully, although it was discontinued in the 1990s, the Viennetta enjoyed a U.S. renaissance in 2021 under the Unilever Good Humor brand.

For children who grew up in the 1980s, summer meant joining friends on bike rides (sans helmet, of course), stuffing themselves silly at neighborhood cookouts, or squeezing every bit of fun out of the family holiday. Running through it all like a fruity thread was Kool Aid. The drink was already almost 60 years old by the '80s, and flavors including lemon-lime, tropical punch, and cherry are ingrained in millions of people's childhood memories.

But it wasn't just a tasty way to cool down and keep kids' sugar levels topped up. It was also turned into one of the decade's most iconic desserts. Originally emerging in Nebraska, Kool Aid pie was quick to make and delighted everyone who grabbed a forkful. Ironically, the Perkins Products Company, which developed Kool Aid, actually created pie fillings in 1934, but wartime sugar limits and poor sales meant they never took off.

The same can't be said of the smooth, fruity pie that bore its name in the 1980s. Nobody really knows why it fell out of favor, but it's blissfully simple to whip up: Pour a sachet of Kool Aid mix into a bowl with sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip, then spoon the lot into a pre-made graham cracker pie crust. Chill in the fridge for a few hours until it's set, and serve to whoops of joy from everyone.

There may be an etiquette for eating restaurant bread, but the rules go out of the window when it comes to pull-apart bread. It vanishes in seconds when we have it at home, and that's just the savory, garlic butter kind. During the 1980s, American families were also sent into a frenzy around the dinner table by monkey bread — and former First Lady Nancy Reagan was partly to blame.

Pull-apart monkey bread had been a thing in the United States for around 100 years, thanks to Hungarian immigrants. Traditionally, it was made by rolling dough into balls that were coated in butter and sugar, and baked in the oven. Some have dried fruit in them or dashes of cinnamon, and when it was placed on the table, everyone would gather round and rip the bread apart. Reagan's monkey bread was famously one of husband Ronald's favorite foods, and the rest of the nation was pretty fond of it, too.

Monkey bread was a particular hit in the Midwest in the 1980s, but home cooks slowly stopped making it. However, in the 2010s, it got a glow-up of the "Million Dollar" kind. This recipe features the original butter, sugar and cinnamon trifecta, but adds a twist with oodles of melted chocolate. The result is a messy, decadent, delicious monkey bread that would make the Reagans blush.

One of the first things many people learn to cook is cake, and it doesn't matter how many mistakes they make, eventually they will turn out a glorious, perfect sponge. The last thing anyone would want to do next is stick holes in it, but that's precisely what happened in the 1980s. Across the United States, "poke cakes" were all the rage, and when you learn what they were combined with, it's easy to see why this fun dessert was so popular.

Home cooks made a plain white cake — often using a box mix the traditional way — and when it was baked, they took a wooden spoon or a fork and put holes in the sponge. Next came the fun part: pouring liquid Jell-O over the whole of the cake, so it filled the voids and created cool patterns. After it was set, the dessert was finished off with a hefty layer of whipped cream or Cool Whip with added Jell-O.

Eighties kids (and, let's be honest, plenty of grown ups) lapped up this colorful dessert, pleasing marketing execs at the Jell-O company, who created it in the hope of reversing the 1980s downward trend in sales. Poke cakes definitely gave them a boost for a while, creating a whimsical dessert that, despite a 21st-century wave of nostalgia, is remembered with a lot of love but not widely prepared.

Some of the best recipes come about because we're pushed for time, stretched for money or both. Dump cakes are a brilliant example of this. They first emerged in the 1920s, when the dry ingredients for a cake were literally all dumped into a bowl, mixed together with wet ones and cooked. Fast forward to the 1960s and '70s and brands made baking even more convenient by creating box cakes.

As well as being perfect for this vintage treat, they were just the thing for dump cakes. Originally, they were made with canned pineapple and cherry pie mix, but one version that was a hit in the 1980s swapped them for tinned fruit cocktail. Inspired by the "Cuppa cuppa cuppa cake" recipe, recounted by Dolly Parton's character in the 1989 film "Steel Magnolias," home cooks across America tried it for themselves and were pleasantly surprised.

You could put almost anything in a dump cake (though some social media users didn't take kindly to a New York Times chocolate version) and you'd end up with a gooey, delicious dessert, the fruit cocktail kind didn't stick around. Dump cakes occasionally popped up at potlucks or at the family dinner table as the 1980s wore on, but eventually fell victim to the public shift away from overly sugary and fatty desserts.

Anyone who visited a Furr's Cafeteria in the 1980s more than likely enjoyed a slice or two of its millionaire pie, but plenty of moms or grandmas, especially in the South, rustled up this ice box treat. It was a decadent confection that not only used up storecupboard staples, it could be made in two ways.

The non-baked version was perfect for hot Southern summers, mixing desiccated coconut, sweetened condensed milk, crushed pecans, and pineapple, all poured into a pre-made graham cracker pie base. After chilling, it was topped with Cool Whip and decorated with Maraschino cherries. The baked kind combines sugar, butter, eggs, a dash of vinegar, nuts, and dates for the filling. It is slowly cooked in a graham cracker crust, before being topped with lashings of whipped cream and sliced bananas.

Although millionaire pie was much loved in the 1980s by anyone who had a taste, it wasn't the prettiest of desserts, which might explain why the next generation of home cooks across America quietly sidestepped it. Although revamped versions, including billionaire pie, with a cherry pie filling, have emerged in the years since, there's not much appetite for this creamy, crunchy dessert.

Growing up in the 1980s meant making your own entertainment. Cable T.V. and games consoles didn't exist and healthy eating for many families simply meant a home-cooked meal. It was the decade that held space for foods that tried to be fun and delicious at the same time. Sometimes those ideas fell flat (see this iconic McDonald's sandwich) but others were absolute bullseyes.

It's easy to see why a blend of chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos and colorful, gummy worms would appeal to kids of all ages, yet dirt cake and dirt pudding were popular with adults too. While the dessert itself was a potluck crowdpleaser, the real treat lay in the way it was put together. Yes, you could pop all the ingredients in a glass — but where was the fun in that? This is one '80s dessert that deserves a 21st-century comeback.

Ambrosia salad started out as a Southern dish that combined mayonnaise, whipped and sour cream, sugar, citrus fruit, and coconut. It was the jewel of many a dining table in the winter months, after the railroad made the latter two ingredients more readily available. Over time, home cooks played around with the recipe, pushing it more firmly into the dessert section of the menu, adding marshmallows to ramp up the sweetness, and swapping cream cheese for mayo's tang.

Throughout the 1980s, bowls or Tupperware tubs of ambrosia salad popped up at cookouts, family get-togethers and – especially in the South — at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although its popularity declined in the 1990s, chefs in the 2000s began taking a fresh look at this classic dessert. They nudged it back to its savory roots, with some adding cucumber and avocado, while others opted for blue cheese and buttermilk. What would grandma say?

There were some strange (but wonderful) food fads happening in the 1980s. Who could forget this cheap-but-delicious offering from KFC, or the breakfast cereal that made dentists weep? One dessert that tickled the tastebuds of millions were Hostess Pudding Pies. As the 1986 advert shows, they were hand-held chocolate-coated pastries filled with a creamy vanilla pudding.

More accurately described on social media as "big gloppy messes of sugary goo," they were a massive hit with kids, but the vanilla ones weren't the most popular. Hostess' range also included a fruit version, as well as the incredibly hard to find pecan filling. One online commenter said they were an "Absolute perfect tasting portable piece of pecan pie," with an amazing flavor. Hostess also launched a tie-in with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," giving that Pudding Pie a green-colored filling.

Sadly for the millions of children who devoured these desserts, even if all the sugar made them feel sick, they were discontinued in 1987 after being on sale for just a year. A handful of similar products tried to take their place, but those who had tasted the real thing were unimpressed. Many on social media are desperate to see Hostess Pudding Pies return to stores but — at the time of writing — it was still just a dream.