Lafayette Grand Cafe & Bakery Brings Back a Childhood Favorite

French brasserie, Lafayette Grand Cafe & Bakery, added a delightful surprise to their summer bakery menu: push-pops! As if this throwback couldn’t get any better, their take on the old grocery store Flinstones ice cream is a little more luxurious than the classic orange sherbet flavor — it’s milk sherbet with crushed macarons. Chef Jennifer Yee is head of Lafayette’s pastry program as well as the mastermind behind our new favorite summer treat, so we just had to ask her what lead her to remake the 90s freezer-favorite. Yee gives us inside scoop on future flavors and her NYC dessert go-to’s.

What inspired the new push-pops at Lafayette?

We had a Lafayette Macaron Ice Cream on the dining room menu for a while and it proved really popular.  The “Lafayette”, with its blue and white shells sandwiching a bergamot ganache filling is one of the top selling macarons in the bakery, so why not offer it as an ice cream flavor in the dining room as well?

How did you develop the milk sherbet and crushed macarons flavor?

Because we knew we were going to use a mix of different flavored macarons, it was best to keep the ice cream base itself more on the neutral side.  Our milk sherbet is eggless, with a bit of citrus zest thrown in, so the mouthfeel is more refreshing than a rich, custard-based ice cream.  It makes a great backdrop and carrier for the star of the pops.. the macarons.

Did you have Fred and Wilma in mind when you created the push-pop?

My summers as a kid revolved around those Flintsones orange sherbet pops, so yes, Bedrock was definitely on my mind while I was in the kitchen.

Are there more flavors of your push-pops coming in the future? If so, what flavors will you be thinking about?

We offered a limited edition “Blackberry Verbena” last week.  It was a beautiful color and was really well infused with that herbaceous and floral verbena.  Starting on Bastille Day, we’ll be doing Cannelé flavored push pops… so good!!!  We even top the pops with a piece of cannelé for fun.  I hope to run that until the end of summer actually, because it’s my favorite pop so far.  We’ll put out a few more non-dairy options too in the next coming weeks.  Stay tuned.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

I love fruity ice creams like strawberry & blackberry.  I also love earthy, rich ice creams like matcha, black tea, and chocolate.  But my all time favorite way to eat ice cream, is when it’s wrapped in mochi, the sweet Japanese glutinous rice flour dough. The texture is so addictive.

What are your other favorite summer treats in NYC? 

I fell in love with Snowdays in the East Village a few months ago.  My first time eating their “snow cream” was walking down the sidewalk in the middle of winter.  (There is no bad time of year to eat ice cream)  They shave these sub-zero blocks of creamy ice into paper thin ribbons and top it with cool stuff, like condensed milk, red beans, mochi (!), captain crunch.  It’s similar to the Phillipino “halo halo” dessert.  I go there at least twice a month, if not more. Another favorite is Morgenstern’s Finest in the LES.  Last time I went, I had the ice cream cake… the best!

Lafayette Grand Cafe & Bakery – Website
380 Lafayette Street
New York, NY