Rita’s Strawberry Cake sundae, however, is no easy feat. Leatherby’s Family Creamery opened its doors on Arden Way in 1982, and since then the old-fashioned ice cream parlor has built a reputation known for one thing: enormous ice cream sundaes. Comparable to a Mexican pastry known as a concha for its shell-like appearance, the Green Tea Sunrise is soft, flaky and buttery like a croissant topped with a sweet and crunchy icing made from Japanese green tea that gives this local favorite it’s unique look and earthy flavor.
Here, he bakes hundreds of pastries in the early morning hours, including the Green Tea Sunrise. Owner Naruske Monguchi moved from Japan more than a decade ago and chose Sacramento because its spelling reminded him of the word “sakura,” which means cherry blossom in Japanese. Have you ever seen a Green Tea Sunrise? Better yet, have you ever tasted one? Sacramento’s only Japanese bakery, Mahoroba, specializes in authentic pastries that come in both savory and sweet varieties. The banana cream pie at Frank Fat’s on 8th and L streets downtown.
Unlike Hawaiian shaved ice, Vampire Penguin offers varieties of light and fluffy “shaved snow” in chocolate, strawberry, mango, cookies & cream, and taro flavors sprinkled with a smorgasbord of toppings like drizzles of condensed milk and caramel sauce, graham cracker and Oreo cookie crumbles, fresh fruit and more. Brothers Leo and Paolo Angelo San Luis are the founders of Vampire Penguin, a shaved ice dessert shop that now has more than 13 locations with plans for Davis and Berkeley in the near future. In a city filled with old-school desserts, there’s always room for the next wave of inventive sweets. This famous pie is made from scratch daily using the same recipe that originated in the 1940s. It’s stacked: a buttery, flaky crust, followed by sliced bananas, rich yellow custard, yet another layer of sliced bananas and topped with a mound of fresh whipped cream. But there is one menu item in particular that many Sacramentans swear by-the Banana Cream Pie. Drawing politicians, state workers and the like, Frank Fat’s continues to serve its customers almost 80 years later at 8th and L streets. Since 1939, Frank Fat’s has fed the capital city and its residents with its original recipes for piping hot Chinese fare.
Whether it’s a goblet’s worth of ice cream sundae from a local mom-and-pop shop or a towering slice of famous banana cream pie from a historic restaurant, Sacramento’s best desserts are plentiful and just as diverse as the city that’s served them for decades, a la mode. Sacramento is home to some of the most favored original recipes and their popularity is measured by the residents who continue to satisfy their sweet tooth, no matter the occasion. For those who like to take a walk on the sweet side, desserts are a delightful way to end a meal, to celebrate an accomplishment or to simply treat oneself.