Choc-top

Choc-top

Alternative names	Choc bombs
Type	Ice cream
Place of origin	Australia,New Zealand
Main ingredients	Vanillaice cream,milk chocolate

Choc-tops(also known as choc bombs inWestern Australia) are chocolate-dippedice-creampopular in bothAustraliaandNew Zealandand traditionally eaten at thecinema.In some dialects choc bombs refers to the hard chocolate covered ice cream at the cinema whereas choc tops are the soft serve version thereof and dispensed from ice cream vans such asMr Whippy.

The traditional choc-top is one scoop ofvanillaice-cream covered in a hardmilk chocolateshell, sitting atop an ice-cream cone. Variations include different ice-cream flavours, such as chocolate, choc-mint, boysenberry, strawberry, caramel, banana, rum and raisin, chocolate chili, and cookies and cream. The chocolate shell may be studded with confectionery, nuts or sprinkles, and mixed with flavourings. Examples include covered with chopped peanuts called a 'hedgehog' or with a half 'Flake' chocolate bar placed in the top of the ice cream before dipping in chocolate called a 'rocket'. Some examples of branded choc-tops include Connoisseur, Bulla, Valhalla andGolden North.

Though today choc-tops are oftenmass-produced,many cinemas - including large chains - still make them by hand,and the quality or novelty of a cinema's choc-tops can be a draw for movie-goers.

Rowena Foods, established in 1990, was one of the largest distributors of choc tops to cinema chains in Australia, untilBulla Dairy Foodsbought them in 2013.