SWEET SPOTChocolate and peanut butter desserts have been on Elements’ menu since the Paradise Valley restaurant opened in 2001. Pastry Chef Samantha Sharrar recently modernized this menu-must, and it’s the bomb. Technically, it’s a bombe – a half-spherical frozen combo of chocolate-covered peanut butter mousse garnished with tuile cookies and chocolate gelato from Arcadia’s The Grateful Spoon.
Sharrar whips the mousse not once, but twice, freezing it in the interim to create a cloud-like, airy texture, then freezing it again in a half-sphere mold. She bakes buttery tuile cookies and makes a dark chocolate glaze by boiling water, cream and sugar, then whisking in dark cocoa powder.
Finally, she brushes Nutella on a plate, pops the semi-frozen mousse out of the mold and pours the chocolate syrup on top, then rolls the edges in feuilletine – thin flakes of a sweet biscuit. Two curvy cookies crown the top, and a scoop of gelato is surrounded by chocolate-covered Pop Rocks. They’ll wake up your palate with a surprising fizz. The bombe ($10) is visually striking, but the real drama happens when you put a spoonful in your mouth.
DETAILSElements 5700 E. McDonald Drive (Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort),
Paradise Valley, 480-948-2100
sanctuaryoncamelback.com