Here's the scoop on some exciting new ice-cream flavours

Remember the drive with your parents to the ice cream stall every weekend as a child? Without a second thought, you asked for a choco bar - vanilla ice-cream coated with chocolate on a stick.

Whiskey and Almond at Drunken Cream costs Rs 561 per 500 ml

On days when you were craving something fruity, all you had to do was choose from orange, mango or raspberry dolly. Today, however, if you walk into an ice-cream parlour and ask for a choco bar, before you get to tear the box and enjoy the stick, you will have to choose from a variety of choco bars - Belgium, dark, choco-almonds, which come in many sizes, too.

Here, we look at irresistible indulgences that demand a bite at the earliest:

Fruits, veggies in your cup
Thirty-year-old Naturals, the ice cream company known for making kids eat fruits such as papaya with a smile, has introduced tempting concepts such as Friday Sundays. Srinivas Kamath, director-retail, Naturals, says, "Here we serve out-of-menu experimental flavours such as pomegranate, California grapes, and even honey dew and ginger."

The ongoing Berry festival at Naturals ice-cream offers five types of berries, apart from strawberry - blueberry, gooseberry, raspberry, mulberry and cranberry, which are locally and internationally procured

Falling in step with the festive mood, Naturals offered Gajar Halwa flavour on January 26 and Kurma Malai during Eid. "During Ganeshotsav, we introduced the Prasad ice cream that was laden with banana and raisins," recalls Kamath.

Presently, the Berry festival is on at all Naturals outlets. "There are five types of berries, apart from strawberry - blueberry, gooseberry, raspberry, mulberry and cranberry. The fresh fruits in the scoop is an attempt to give the raspberry dolly a twist." The indulgence doesn't end here. With Holi round the corner in March, look forward to Thandai ice cream. Cost of one scoop ice cream at Naturals begins at Rs 40.

At the Excellence Awards held by Indian Ice cream Manufacturers Association in December last year, Naturals won the most innovative flavour. We bet you can't guess what it was - cucumber!

The candy stick, reloaded
With Magnum Ice-Cream, which launched in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore this month, the ice cream stick just got sassier with the Classic, Almond and Chocolate Truffle, priced at R85 per bar, to choose from.

If you are not in the mood for a stick, turn it into a sundae with your choice of toppings

"Ice cream sticks continue to be the biggest impulse buy after cups. Today, consumers want variety even on their stick," says Sapan Sharma, General Manager, Ice Creams, Hindustan Unilever Limited.

(L-R) The Almond, Classic and Chocolate Truffle ice-cream sticks by Magnum were launched in India this week

These stick ice creams can also be devoured as sundaes with a little creativity.

A spirited serving
Launched in October last year, Alok Rao prepares an ice cream cocktail using with rum, whisky, beer, and liqueurs such as Drambuie.

Oreo, Coffee and Rum (above) and Beer and Chocolate ice cream (below)

Rao came up with the idea of adding alcohol to solve the problem of crystallisation while churning the mixture.

"Alcohol doesn't freeze and prevents formation of crystals," says Rao, adding that he adds only a capful of alchohol to every 500 ml.

What: Drunken Cream
Order: To place an order, log on to imly.com
Cost: One tub of 500 ml costs Rs 561