Lemon Bar Non-Dairy Ice Cream from jeni's 🍦
This is one non-dairy flavor currently offered by prolific Columbus, Ohio ice cream company, Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. Primarily made of Coconut Cream, Cane Sugar, Lemon Curd and Water*, this was a wonderful addition to a birthday celebration on a warm Wednesday evening in May of 2024 (Happy birthday to Cael!).
Typically I am not the biggest fan of coconut cream based ice creams but I thought it worked well here. Usually the taste of coconut overpowers the other flavors leaving the depth of flavor one-dimensional. This is not the case here. I definitely got a blend of the lemony tartness with the coconut. The cane sugar adds sweetness and helps maintain the smooth and soft texture (by reducing the formations of ice crystals in the churning process). Thus, resulting in a final product I found to be smooth, rich and very creamy; something a lot of other vegan ice cream bases struggle with. As for the toppings, the lemon curd is an interesting choice. It tastes crisp, fresh, and tart. Pretty unique if you ask me. Furthermore, there is a crunchy element coming from pieces of shortbread crust, which are fairly neutral in taste, but good. Additionally, I can't forget to mention the sugar cone, which happens to be vegan and so very tasty.
Now, this flavor of nice cream definitely checks all of the boxes in terms of texture. However, I thought the shortbread crust could be improved so that it adds to the overall taste of the dessert, rather than being plain. And, as adventurous as I am, I cannot get fully on board with lemon ice cream. It is pleasant the several times I've ordered it, but defintely not something I crave after having it. Something about clean tasting ice cream just does not do it for me. But, that is just personal preference of course.
All in all, I rate this a 7.5/10. Even if it's not my favorite, I still think it is good. Punchy, lemony freshness and a shortbread crunch; who knew that lemon ice cream could work? Not surprised that Jeni found a way to pull this combination off. If you are looking to find some, it is one of two flavors that are vegan/non-dairy in-store at the Short North location. Alternatively, if you live outside of Columbus, or simply do not want to travel to their storefront locations, they also sell it along with 7 other vegan flavors on their website that ship to all 50 states here in the U.S.. Give it a shot and broaden your horizons.
*additional ingredients include Tapioca Syrup, Pastry Piece, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract, Sea Salt, Carob Bean Gum, and Sunflower Lecithin, for anyone curious :)
