TKBC’s Lemon Drop Ice Cream --- Homage to Old Uncle Gaylord’s Lotus Cream

[Melanie Wong]

Friday evening I returned to the Rohnert Park farmers market, where I’d loved the chocolate ice cream by The Killer Baking Company (TKBC) earlier this summer. Flavors of the day were vanilla, lemon drop and chocolate chai. I couldn’t decide, so Chef Mike chose for me. He packed together a combo single scoop ($3) of lemon drop on top and chocolate chai underneath onto a sugar cone and said “tell me what you think”, when he handed it to me.

With the first taste of Lemon Drop, I was transported back through space and time to my undergrad days at Cal. This elusive flavoring was one that had not crossed my palate for decades. Not immediately recognized as a taste that I could easily name, soon dusty, long-dormant flavor memories of Old Uncle Gaylord’s homemade style ice cream flooded back. Revisiting this long lost flavor was truly a transcendent moment.

Only Chef Mike’s voice snapped me out of it, “You’re being awfully quiet over there. So?”

“I’m having a flashback to an ice cream flavor that I knew long ago and that I never expected to taste again. Have you ever heard of Gaylord’s?” I answered.

Chef Mike broke into a wide grin and said, “Yes, this is Old Uncle Gaylord’s. It was called Lotus Cream. But like with any recipe, I’ve tweaked it. This has slivered toasted almonds, Meyer lemons, and an extra bit of the right sea salt.”

I shared a table in TKBC’s outdoor ice cream parlor with this little guy named Cody. http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/4957967293/
His grandma bought him a Lemon Drop ice cream cone and she gave her permission to take this photo. Cody was quite intent on his cone and managed not to plop the scoop on the ground finishing every bit of his ice cream. He pronounced it "very good". His older brother was equally appreciative, declaring the lemon drop “awesome”.

Lotus Cream was more haunting in taste, and harder to parse. TKBC’s Lemon Drop has a richer, heavier base than Uncle Gaylord’s icier texture. Its flavors are more direct and intense. While not identical, I suspect that the late Gaylord Willis, the founder of Old Uncle Gaylord’s would be pleased with this tribute to his Lotus Cream. I know that I was.

The Friday night Rohnert Park Farmers Market runs until September 24 this year. TKBC will also be a vendor at the Solano Stroll on Sunday, 9/12, in Berkeley/Albany.

Lotus Cream recipe
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/1979-05-01/Making-Ice-Cream.aspx?page=7

Chowhounds’ remember Old Uncle Gaylord’s Lotus Cream
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/439559#2924424
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/16441#45378
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/38535#181640

Chocolate Ice Cream by The Killer Baking Company (Rohnert Park)
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/719100

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The Killer Baking Company
35 Executive Ave Suite #4, Rohnert Park, CA

Solano Stroll
1563 Solano Ave, Albany, CA 94707

Rohnert Park Farmers Market
Rohnert Park Expressway and State Farm Drive, Rohnert Park, CA

[hhc]

TKBC was at Solano Stroll but they didn't bring their ice cream, only their brownies. So sad for me.

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Solano Stroll
1563 Solano Ave, Albany, CA 94707

[Melanie Wong]

What a shame. I'm not a fan of the brownies, but I do like the ice cream alot.

[Melanie Wong]

On Friday I stopped by the Rohnert Park farmers market for the first time this season to buy produce, and couldn't resist an ice cream cone. Lemon Drop again for me. It's changed . . . for the better. Now made with organic Straus base, the flavor and finish is cleaner. Chef Mike said his cost doubled but he's kept the price at $3 for a single cone and 2/$5 though the quantity seems just a bit smaller to me. He said that he had to change his technique and figure out how to make ice cream again with the switch in base but he's very happy with the result. I am too.

Available at more farmers markets this year, adding the Wednesday night market in downtown Santa Rosa and Tuesday night in Sonoma.

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Santa Rosa Downtown Market
637 1st St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Sonoma Plaza Farmer's Market
Broadway Sonoma CA, Broadway Sonoma, CA