All this birthday well-wishing today has given me the confidence to post something I had wanted to hold back on–it’s too controversial, too inflammatory, simply too far. But I must.
Earlier this month, when the folks at my office got a birthday cake for me (and two of my co-workers who also have Jan birthdaze), I was given the choice of cake flavor. I chose lemon cake, since I figured most people had probably eaten their annual allotment of chocolate over the holidays and would appreciate a lighter cake. My choice was almost universally lauded as very wise. When the cake was delivered, the stakes were upped even more–lemon with buttercream frosting from no less lofty an establishment as Rick’s Dessert Diner. Well friends, things turned sour (so to speak) just as the cake was cut–two layers, and skimpy ones at that. And then the frosting-to-cake ratio was way off, like more than 1-to-1. To top it off, the frosting tasted like salted butter had been used rather than unsalted (as I assume you’d want to do).
I’m not saying Rick’s is not the best place in town to get dessert, I’m just saying that in this particular instance, the lemon cupcakes my wife and daughter made me today from a storebought mix were far better than Rick’s lemon cake.
(Another of CoolDMZ’s helpful research findings: Davis Wiki.)
The Sac Rag 
After years of consuming Rick’s offerings (Rick’s name is Ahmed, by the way) I’ve grown tired of the buttercream. I stick with the cheesecakes and the other items in the cold case. Not that I don’t think “Rik” is truly doing God’s work, it’s just that I’m not crazy about his traditional frosted cakes. The banana, chocolate-chip cheesecake is the shiznit.
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Uh- isn’t it Rick’s “Dessert O Diner?” Oh- wait-that’s the CLOCK!
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I’ve never been all that impressed with Rick’s.
And it alwasy smells like amonia cleaning solution in there.
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I’m not joking when I say that Ricks is one of the reasons that I wanted to move to Sacramento in the first place. I had to visit it every time I came here. I got a german chocolate cake as a birthday present my first year living here. I froze it and ate the whole thing myself over subsequent weeks. I celebrated the birth of my first niece by waiting at Ricks for her to come home from the hospital and I had Ricks after choosing a wedding dress at House of Fashion. Strangly, now that I’m really enmeshed in Sacramento living, I always go for El Diablo at Tower. Why am I sharing this? I am procrastinating at work.
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Has anyone ever tried the “lemon chess” pie at Rick’s? I’ve always been intrigued by it but never taken the plunge.
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No I haven’t tried the “Lemon Chess” cake but now I want to only because it sounds just like a game my 3-year niece would invent.
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