FoCo Joe: Lemon Cake (Batter Ice Cream)
I was in FoCo for lunch the other day and noticed that the bakery was offering lemon cake, one of my all-time favorite desserts. I have a policy where I try not to eat FoCo desserts during lunch (soft-serve being the one exception), so I made a mental note to try the cake at dinner that night. For some reason, I didn’t end up eating dessert after dinner, let alone check the bakery for my lemon cake! I thought I had missed the one chance I had. But the next night, I saw lemon bars in the desserts section and it dawned on me — I can make my own lemon cake! Or at least try to…
It might be a stretch to call this lemon cake, but the flavor does take me back to the days when I had birthday parties in bowling alleys, rock climbing gyms and the like. What I turned out with was, let’s be honest, not my prettiest creation, but the taste was definitely there.
The instructions:
1) Grab a lemon bar or two from the desserts section in FoCo. Have a plate ready to go — it does not have to be clean, as it’s only needed as a cutting surface. I only used one lemon bar but those with the sweetest of lemon cake dreams may want to try two. (I found one was enough, so I will use the singular in my instructions.)
2) Cut the lemon bar into quarters. They do not have to look pretty. Don’t worry if the lemon bar breaks on you. That is normal and especially okay in this recipe.
3) Transfer the lemon quarters into a clean, colored cup.
4) Scoop some Birthday Cake ice cream from the vats over by the Pavilion (Kosher section) and place into the cup with the lemon quarters.
5) Add any and all desirable toppings — or some cereal or granola as a healthy alternative. Sounds weird, but tastes great! I added Reese’s Pieces in mine. I love them too much to leave them out.
6) With a spoon, mix everything together, a la “Coldstone” ice cream. Make sure to mix the ingredients to form as cohesive of a texture as possible. There is no such thing as over-mixing.
The final result is a cake batter ice cream infused with that lemony taste that is oh-so-irresistible. The hints of chocolate and peanut butter from the Reese’s Pieces add an even greater element of surprise — a pleasant one, at that! For some, it may be one of those try-once-and-move-on type of desserts but for others (like myself), this “lemon cake” will surely make multiple appearances in the very near future.