MANILA, Philippines – Ice cream – a treat for all ages. From the regular flavors to the strange ones, one of the most popular desserts around the world can be made even more unique with ingredients that some may find exotic and surprising.

Does something savory, like bacon, go well as a dessert? What about crocodile eggs as an ingredient, or maybe a flower-based flavor?

Here are some of the most talked ice cream unusual flavors that you might like to try, if you are adventurous, that is. 

“For some of our ice cream flavors, we use crocodile egg instead of a common egg. Basic ice cream base consists of milk, cream, eggs and sugar. The difference between ice cream and croc egg ice cream is the creaminess and thickness of the ice cream since a crocodile egg is 80% yolk,” Bianca told Rappler via email.

Among the most popular flavors, according to Bianca, is Durian Dynamite, which uses the polarizing fruit, famous for its strong smell. Other popular flavors include pandan and Mt. Apo, which uses croc egg, and the ostrich egg ice cream. They also have the croc bacon ice cream, where they use bits of crocodile.

2. Merry Moo’s Candied Bacon ice cream, and Earl Grey Tea ice cream. Bacon and tea as an ingredient for ice cream? Merry Moo, which produced the two flavors, has been getting a lot of attention for their unique flavors.

“Our flavors are quite different from what’s available commercially in the market. We are an artisan ice cream maker,” said Kelvin Ngo, chief Ice Cream officer of Merry Moo.

“We make ice cream in small batches, using fresh local non-UHT (ultrahigh temperature) dairy from Laguna. We strive to use local ingredients whenever possible.” 

Merry Moo currently has a total of 17 flavors which includes Horlicks (malt ice cream with Maltesers bits), Strawberry Basil (strawberry swirls mixed with a light basil flavor), and polvoron (sweet crunchy chunks of polvoron, a popular powdery dessert, mixed in a cream base.)

3. Pinkerton’s Carrot Cake ice cream. Known for its candied maple bacon ice cream, Pinkerton’s other flavors to try include the carrot cake, guava basil sorbet, coconut sherbet, and honey rosemary to name a few.

Owner Xandra Rocha, in her message in the Pinkerton website, said she started the brand when she came to Manila and experimented with various recipes. Suggestions from family and friends followed.

“I served these flavors to friends and family, and before I knew it, they wanted to order – insisting to pay for it. They also started making suggestions.  Asking if I could customize flavors for them. I did. They often refer to my ice cream as ‘couture’ ice cream for this reason. Gingersnap, Apple Pie, Spiked Christmas Spice, Carrot Cake, Banana Nutella, Candied Maple Bacon, Guava Basil Sorbet – are a few of the many flavors that came about from people’s suggestions,” she wrote on the website.

Pinkerton is one of the special ice cream brands that have been carried in supermarkets such as Rustans. The price maybe a bit steep (P320 for a pint), but if you want something different, this is a good option.  

4. Ilustrado’s Sampaguita Ice Cream. If flowers can be eaten as part of a salad, it can also be used as an ingredient for ice cream.

Ilustrado, a popular restaurant in Intramuros, serves sampaguita-flavored ice cream, which is also considered the country’s national flower.

Students from PUP San Pedro, Laguna also made their own sampaguita ice cream, which was featured in the show Umagang Kay Ganda.  

5. Sebastian’s Green Mango with Nam Prik (Thai Chili Sugar). From the maker of the green mango with bagoong ice cream, Sebastian’s has introduced one of its latest flavors – green mango with nam prik (Thai Chili Sugar).

According to the description in Sebastian’s Facebook page, the green mango ice cream with nam prik, the green mango sorbet is paired with “Thai-Inspired Chili Sugar that is sweet, spicy and salty.” The description also adds that the flavor is not for the timid palates.

Other news flavors to try at Sebastian’s include bibingka espesyal, balsamic strawberry, maple bacon pancake, and blue cheese. 

So if you are game for an ice cream adventure, start by tasting these flavors, and who knows, you may just enjoy them. –Rappler.com