There’s an old saying: “Stressed is desserts spelled backwards.” After this past year, I reckon there’s not one person reading this that hasn’t experienced stress in some form. Amiright? So, in honor of the past, let’s indulge just a little bit more by brushing that continued stress off by enjoying some of the most decadent—and fun—desserts in Las Vegas.
Over at Sahara Las Vegas, a longtime local- and tourist-favorite restaurant, Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, recently welcomed executive chef Candace Ochoa to the kitchen, and she’s created a new whimsical dessert for the menu, mini mousse doughnuts. Served like flowers blooming on a re-created silver tree branch, each doughnut is filled with mousse and then dipped in a variety of Valrhona chocolate flavors like coffee crunch, dark chocolate and dulce.
In the MGM Resorts International realm, several hotel restaurants offer choice desserts sure to satisfy sweet tooths. At Mayfair Supper Club at Bellagio, a dining-meets-entertainment establishment, a guest favorite is The Cigar dessert, which comes in an ashtray. It’s made with milk chocolate, hazelnut and pear. (This is a fun Boomerang for Instagram!) For an ode-to-French-cuisine dessert, visit Bardot Brasserie at Aria for its large-and-in-charge chocolate macaron. The exquisite dark-chocolate macaron is made with Valrhona mousse, hazelnut, Grand Marnier and candied orange.
For a fun spin on dessert, Japanese food hot spot Morimoto Las Vegas at MGM Grand offers its fiery chocolate tart made with marshmallow, salty caramel ganache, spiced rum and dark chocolate sorbet. Arigato, chef Morimoto!
Within the Caesars Entertainment property collective on the Strip, one of the prettiest and just darn yummiest desserts is found at Vanderpump Cocktail Lounge at Caesars Palace. On the menu since opening, the rosé cake for two is a rosé-infused sponge cake coated in a sumptuous strawberry buttercream. At The Cromwell, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis’ eponymous restaurant isn’t only serving up her fabulous California-influenced Italian pastas—her knack for creating sweet sweets is impressive. Try the light yet rich mascarpone cheesecake, made with an almond biscotti crust and served with raspberry sauce and mascarpone whipped cream. UNLV alum and celeb chef Guy Fieri offers the seven-layer dark chocolate whiskey cake at his Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar at The Linq Hotel. The indulgent, multi-slice, multi-layer cake is frosted in a whiskey crème anglaise and covered in a salted whiskey caramel sauce and crumbled toffee bar. And we’d be remiss not to suggest celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s long-running entry into the dessert realm, his famous sticky toffee pudding. The dessert at Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris is a sweet pudding cake coated in a brown sugar toffee and served with brown butter ice cream.
For an over-the-top, tableside-finished dessert, head a few blocks off the Strip to the all-new Circa Resort & Casino’s steakhouse Barry’s Downtown Prime. Here, end—or heck begin—the meal, with the steakhouse staple baked Alaska. The dessert cake is built with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream layers and coated in a fluffy meringue, then finished tableside by your server, who lights the meringue on fire, giving it a lightly toasted effect.
We’re rounding out our sweet and tasty tour with The Venetian and The Palazzo dessert offerings, beginning with Latin chef Lorena Garcia’s red velvet churro bouquet at her restaurant Chica. The fun bouquet of sugary goodness is served with several warm, red velvet churros that have been tossed in a cinnamon and sugar mixture and then served with a trio of sweet sauces for dipping. For more fun and flavorsome dessert options, stop by Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer for its popular CrazyShakes. At the top of the tasty list is the camera-worthy Cakeshake CrazyShake, a smooth, thick cake batter milkshake that totally goes wild. The milkshake, with a vanilla-frosting coating rim, gets piled with sugary treats like rainbow sprinkles and a slice of Funfetti cake, more rainbow sprinkles, whipped cream, and a cherry. The sweets spotlight at The Venetian and The Palazzo shines lastly on the banana cream pie, an edible art creation at Cut by Wolfgang Puck. Courtesy of the properties’ pastry chef Nicole Earl, this unique version is a milk chocolate sphere filled with goodies like banana jam, Cool Whip, banana ice cream, custard, compote, vanilla wafers and a 24-karat gold leaf that is all revealed once the server pours a warm banana caramel sauce over the top.
So don’t fret over those COVID-15 pounds you’ve seemed to gain. If you’re going to take yourself to dinner while in Las Vegas, just remember another famous saying, “Life is short and unpredictable. Eat the dessert first!”
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