SWEET EATS
Got food on the brain this month?
So do we, but we’re not talking turkey.
Indulge your sweet tooth with 10 of our favorite high-desert desserts.
By Erika Ayn Finch
The staff at Sedona Monthly have one big thing in common: We each have a ginormous sweet tooth. When we started putting together our list of favorite local desserts, our mouths began to water collectively, and our list quickly blossomed. Sedona, it seems, has no shortage of sweet eats. All of these desserts are made in-house (with the exception of one that we loved so desperately we shed a tear at the thought of leaving it out), so you might want to call the restaurant in advance to make sure it’s available at the time of your visit. Ten pounds and ten desserts later, here are the best ways to satiate a sugar craving in Red Rock Country.
Tiramisu
at Belgian Jennie’s Bordello Bistro & Pizzeria
Sharon Pitts will tell you there are “12 million zillion” different recipes for tiramisu, and we’ll take her word for it. After all, Sharon co-owns Belgian Jennie’s Bordello Bistro & Pizzeria in Jerome with her husband Tom (Tom is Sedona Monthly’s wine columnist) and has traveled to Italy countless times. She has indulged in plenty of tiramisu. Her recipe comes from friends who live in Tuscany.
Right off the bat, you know Sharon’s tiramisu is not your usual Italian dessert. For starters, it’s served in a chilled glass mug. First you savor spoonfuls of whipped cream, cocoa powder and a filling made from mascarpone cheese, Marsala wine, Kahlua, sugar and a “secret ingredient.” Then your spoon strikes gold when you discover the crunchy ladyfingers soaked in coffee (not espresso) about halfway into the glass. This dessert is extremely rich; one glass is more than enough for two people, especially after dining on Tom’s Italian cuisine. Sharon’s masterpiece frequently sells out, so plan accordingly.
• Belgian Jennie’s Bordello Bistro & Pizzeria, 412 Main St. in Jerome (928-639-3141)
Boca Negra
at Cucina Rustica-Dahl & Di Luca and Dahl & Di Luca Ristorante Italiano
On many fine-dining dessert menus, you’ll find warm lava cake, flourless chocolate cake or some variation of the two. Because chocolate makes us weak in the knees, we’ve tried most of these cakes,  but it’s the Boca Negra at Cucina Rustica-Dahl & Di Luca and Dahl & Di Luca Ristorante Italiano that makes the grade. The sister restaurants share Pastry Chef Linda Dompkowski, who’s been baking for more than 20 years. The secret ingredient in Linda’s flourless chocolate cake is Jim Beam bourbon whiskey. You don’t taste the alcohol immediately, but after a few bites, you’ll feel a familiar warm sensation in the back of your throat – and it has nothing to do with the fact that the cake is served warm.
The Boca Negra has a thin sugar crust, and its texture is more reminiscent of a heavy mousse. It’s served with vanilla-bean gelato and fresh fruit. Though it might not be incredibly dense, that doesn’t mean the Boca Negra isn’t rich. “You have to be a chocolate lover to like this dessert,” says Linda. “It’s pure chocolate.” • Dahl & Di Luca, 2321 SR 89A in West Sedona (928-282-5219) and Cucina Rustica-Dahl & Di Luca, 7000 SR 179 at Tequa Festival Marketplace in the Village of Oak Creek (928-284-3010)
Chocolate Eruption Cake
at Dan’s Bistro
Confession: When we first conceptualized this story, we felt that all of the desserts we chose needed to be homemade. And then we discovered that one of our favorite ways to indulge our chocolate obsession, the Chocolate Eruption Cake at Dan’s Bistro, is the only dessert Executive Chef Dan Martin does not make in-house. We struggled with the dilemma (over a slice of cake) but decided we couldn’t, in good conscience, leave the legendary concoction out of the story.
The cake has been on Dan’s menu since the bistro opened in November 2010. He removed it once – just once – and literally had a customer yell at him in the middle of the dining room. The cake consists of a chocolate cookie crust (so moist it’s practically cake) and chocolate mousse infused with cheesecake and chocolate chunks. The towering slice of cake is finished with chocolate and caramel sauces, sliced almonds and hunks of thickly shaved chocolate. White-and-dark-chocolate cigars crisscross either side of the cake, and a strawberry is served on the side. Surely now you understand our conundrum…and why we caved. Yes, we share this dessert, but here’s a little secret: We could probably devour one of these all on our own. • Dan’s Bistro, 1650 W. SR 89A in West Sedona (928-282-0744)
Caramel Flan
at El Rincon Restaurante Mexicano
 If the perfect end to a heavy French meal is a light crème brûlée, than there’s nothing better than flan to top off a Mexican feast. And there’s no better flan in Sedona than the Caramel Flan at El Rincon Restaurante Mexicano. Restaurant owner Demetri Wagner says the dessert has been on the menu since the restaurant opened 35 years ago, and it’s a perennial favorite. The traditional Mexican dessert is made with sugar, vanilla, eggs, and sweetened and evaporated milk. The custard-like concoction is cooked in a pool of caramel, and then turned upside down to be served. The result is a little volcano of creamy goodness with caramel sauce slowly spilling over the edge like lava.
The flan is served cool and topped with whipped cream and slivered almonds. There is a hint of caramelized sugar in the flavor, but this isn’t sticky-sweet like other traditional Mexican desserts. Executive Chef Maria Ortiz says you’ll find flan at most restaurants in Mexico, but none taste quite like her dessert. “Ours is absolutely better than what you find in Mexico,” she says. “And I’m Mexican!” • El Rincon Restaurante Mexicano, 336 SR 179 at Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village (928-282-4648)
Pastel de Elote
at Elote Café
Fifteen years ago, Jeff Smedstad, owner and executive chef at Elote Café, came up with a recipe for Pastel de Elote, the sweet corn cake he discovered at a coffee shop in Veracruz City in Mexico. Jeff bakes the cake in an iron skillet and serves it warm with dulce de leche, vanilla-bean ice cream and whipped cream (all homemade). The cake is garnished with crunchy dried corn. It could easily feed a table of four. Jeff says it’s become the most popular dessert item on the menu, though that wasn’t always the case.
“For the first six months, it wasn’t popular,” says Jeff. “People thought it was strange to put corn in
dessert. Now it’s our best-seller.”
Pastel de Elote is baked to order, and the corn definitely works because it’s sweet. The concoction also melds together to become a very sensory experience. The ice cream slowly melts down into the cake, mingling warm with cold, and the thick dulce de leche is gooey and super sweet. The crunch of the dried-corn garnish gives the dessert a certain satisfaction. (“Texture is forgotten with dessert,” says Jeff. “I think I ate one too many Rice Krispies treats as a kid.”) And of course it all smells divine. If you have a sweet tooth, take note: The Pastel de Elote recipe is available in Jeff’s book, The Elote Café Cookbook. • Elote Café, 771 SR 179 at the Kings Ransom Sedona Hotel (928-203-0105)
Key Lime Pie
at Hundred Rox Restaurant
If you read our restaurant spotlight last month, you already know we fell hard for Hundred Rox Restaurant’s Key Lime Pie. Executive Chef Paul Chandler says the creamy, tart concoction has been on the menu for about six months. “Some of our entrées are spicy or heavy,” says Paul. “I thought this would be a nice light, refreshing finish to a meal.”
He was right on the money. As we stated in our spotlight, this is the best Key lime pie we’ve tasted west of the Florida panhandle. Those who reside near the Florida Keys will tell you that authentic Key lime pie is not lime green in color but rather a yellowish-green hue, and we’re happy to report that Chef Paul’s pie follows suit. Paul makes the filling, the graham-cracker pie crust and the whipped-cream topping from scratch. The pie is served with caramel and chocolate sauce drizzled on the side of the large white plate, so you can kick your slice up a notch if you choose. “We bake these pies with love,” says Paul. • Hundred Rox Restaurant at Amara Resort Hotel & Spa, 100 Amara Lane in Uptown Sedona (928-282-4828)
Profiteroles
at Mesa Grill
The Sedona Airport’s Mesa Grill might be the new kid on the block when it comes to Sedona restaurants, but chefs Gonzalo Ramirez and Alberto M. Anaya have already made a big splash with the profiteroles dessert. Three homemade puff pasties are filled with mango, vanilla-bean and chocolate gelatos. Chocolate, caramel and raspberry sauces are drizzled on the plate, and the dessert is garnished with fresh mango, blackberries and raspberries. In a word: irresistible.
The mango gelato is our favorite, but it’s the puff pastries that are the star of this dessert. The puffs are fluffy and light as air, making this treat a cool and refreshing way to end your meal. On the plate, the colorful profiteroles resembles a dessert version of sliders – despite the elegant name, this is not a pretentious dessert. “It’s our signature dessert,” says Marc Battistini, Mesa Grill’s owner. “We are an American grill, but we like to be creative. Later this year, we are going to add Grand Marnier and chocolate soufflés to our menu.” Our mouths are watering already! • Mesa Grill, 1185 Airport Mesa Road in West Sedona (928-282-2400)
Goat Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Cream and Tropical Fruit Salsa
at René at Tlaquepaque
Cheesecake is cheesecake, right? Not in the hands of Executive Chef Walter Paulson, who has been creating culinary masterpieces at René at Tlaquepaque for 19 years. Last New Year’s Eve, on the heels  of his very popular margarita cheesecake, Walter debuted his latest creation: Goat Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Cream and Tropical Fruit Salsa. It was such a hit he brought it back for Valentine’s Day and then again this summer and fall. “All of our desserts are made in-house,” says Deborah Leatherwood, restaurant owner. “We took the goat cheesecake off the menu for a while, and our local clientele asked us to bring it back. Walter doesn’t get out of the kitchen very often – he doesn’t realize we think he makes something more special than the average cheesecake.
Walter uses cream cheese, sour cream, chèvre and lime juice for the cheesecake – the crust is a moist concoction of vanilla wafer cookies and butter. It all adds up to the lightest, creamiest cheesecake we’ve tasted. The goat cheese and lime juice cut the sweetness and give the dessert a pleasant tartness while the passion-fruit cream and the fruit salsa (strawberries, pineapple and papaya) are pleasantly sweet. The chèvre is subtle but unmistakable, and it’s what makes the cake truly memorable. But Walter will tell you it’s not the goat cheese that has made this dessert a local’s favorite. “The most important ingredient is love,” he says.• René at Tlaquepaque, 336 SR 179 at Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village (928-282-9225)
Chocolate Chimichanga
at The Grille at ShadowRock
In keeping with its theme of Southwest cuisine with a twist, The Grille at ShadowRock at the Hilton Sedona Resort & Spa offers a decadent chocolate chimichanga dessert. The treat was the brainchild of former sous chef Shannon Plowman who created it six years ago. A large chocolate tortilla is stuffed with cream cheese, fire-roasted apples and cinnamon. The sweet burrito is then rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Creamy-smooth dulce de leche ice cream is served on the side. “It’s definitely one of our top-selling desserts,” says Senior Sous Chef Michael Osterman.
The combination of sweet and salty plus the different textures is what makes this one of our favorite desserts. The tortilla is flaky and crisp thanks to the cinnamon crust while the tart cream cheese filling melts in your mouth. Large chunks of plump apples are tucked inside the cream cheese and make for an unexpected treat. The dulce de leche ice cream adds just the right amount of sweetness and truly completes the dessert. For those with an especially large sweet tooth, listen up: This dessert is big – two people can easily share it and still leave a little on the plate (well, maybe).• The Grille at ShadowRock at the Hilton Sedona Resort & Spa, 90 Ridge Trail Drive in the Village of Oak Creek (928-284-4040)
Napoleon Dynamite
at Yavapai Restaurant at Enchantment
Trust Yavapai Restaurant at Enchantment Resort to turn dessert into an exquisite work of art. Rick Griggs, who relocated from Texas in July to work as Enchantment’s pastry chef, debuted the Napoleon Dynamite in August, and the dessert is so beautiful that we had to admire it for a few moments before digging in. Caramelized white-chocolate semifreddo (translation: frozen mousse) is stacked between two palmier-like cinnamon crisps. The tiny tower is surrounded with a compote made from dried peaches, dried figs, dried apricots and jalapeño. It’s all topped off with white-chocolate shavings. The double-stacked presentation makes this an easy dessert for two diners to share.
The Napoleon Dynamite is made fresh daily and assembled to order. The variety of ingredients gives it a complex flavor and texture. All at once, it’s cool, creamy and crunchy; the mousse is very rich, but the tartness of the fruit cuts the sweetness of the white chocolate so that it’s not too cloying. The subtle heat of the jalapeño adds the perfect finish and reminds you that you’re in the Southwest. “It has all the right elements,” says Rick, who has been a pastry chef since 1990 and confesses that he has a sweet tooth. “It’s become quite popular.” • Yavapai Restaurant, 525 Boynton Canyon Road at Enchantment Resort in West Sedona (928-204-6000) •
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