Photo by Richard Maack

Bamboo ash. If it’s not on foodie radars at the moment, it soon will be, thanks to Pastry Chef Renee Cade from elements restaurant at the Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain resort.

A Scottsdale Culinary Institute Pâtisserie and Baking graduate, Cade, originally from Hawaii, honed her baking skills at both The Ritz-Carlton and The Phoenician before joining elements in January. During her tasting audition, Cade wowed Executive Chef Beau MacMillan and his team with a striking bamboo torte. It’s a fitting finish to the bold, Asian-accented American cuisine elements is dishing out from its new, multimillion-dollar kitchen.

This layered dessert is a juxtaposition of color, texture and taste: a crumbly black sesame sablé Breton base, a chewy charcoal-black bamboo sponge cake, and a creamy pineapple mousse. Slivers of shaved pineapple and caramelized, puffed rice crown the canary yellow glazed top. The plate is painted with wispy strokes of caramel and pineapple coulis.

Do you eat it or hang it on the wall and call it art? While it would make a fine display, eating it is much more gratifying. It’s surprisingly light for a cake-based dessert, balanced between tart and sweet, with an underlying earthiness from the bamboo ash.

“The ash just enhances the brown sugar in the cake and gives it that beautiful black color. The taste even reminds me of molasses a little bit,” Cade says.

Chocolate lovers needn’t fret; she’s introduced a satisfyingly rich chocolate duo plate, too. All desserts are $10.

Elements
(Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain)
5700 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley
480-948-2100
sanctuaryaz.com