| Alternative names | Choc bombs |
|---|---|
| Type | Ice cream |
| Place of origin | Australia,New Zealand |
| Main ingredients | Vanilla ice cream,milk chocolate |
Choc-tops (also known as choc bombs inWestern Australia) are chocolate-dippedice-cream popular in bothAustralia andNew Zealand and 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 ofvanilla ice-cream covered in a hardmilk chocolate shell, 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,[1][2] 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 Foods bought them in 2013.[3]