A cool way to usher in LGBTQ+ Pride Month

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, which members of the LGBTQIA+ community look forward to because it gives them recognition and dignity. So, Ian Carandang, the ice cream genius behind Sebastian’s Ice Cream, thought of a cool way to usher in Pride Month — by making special Pride Month items available.

Two ice cream cakes are on the menu — the well-loved Rainbow Pride Cake and the very new Woof! Cake.

Once a June-only exclusive, the Rainbow Cake is now available all-year long. Due to customer demand, the Rainbow Cake is now on the regular menu and continues to serve as a reminder that celebrating Pride in oneself isn’t just a June thing but something to do all year long. The cake consists of several layers, from bottom to top, of ube cake, blueberry ice cream, avocado ice cream, lemon cake, orange sherbet, strawberry sorbet and sweet cream ice cream with crunchy milk crumb. Lashings of rainbow white chocolate decorate the top, with a hint of edible gold glitter for extra fabulousness.

Making its debut on the menu is the Bear Pride Ice Cream Cake, or the Woof! Cake, to specifically acknowledge the bear community, a subculture consisting of large, beefy and chubby gay men. In the past few years, the Pinoy Bear community has come into its own as a fully thriving group celebrating body positivity and diversity. Named after the signature expression of attraction bears say to each other, the Woof! Cake consists of the colors of the Bear Pride flag and consists of rich, indulgent ingredients. The layers are, from bottom to top, black cocoa cake with crushed Oreo cookies (black), black sesame ice cream with black sesame brittle (gray), condensed milk ice cream with pastillas de leche (white), mocha cake with almond slivers (tan), salted butter caramel ice cream with toffee crisp (golden yellow), Nutella ice cream with roasted hazelnuts (reddish brown), and chocolate cake with peanut butter drizzle (brown).

Just like the Rainbow Cake, the Woof! Cake can be enjoyed in slices at P165 per slice or bought whole (9 inches in diameter) at P1,750 at Sebastian’s The Podium shop or online at sebastiansicecream.com.

But, wait, there’s more. Two ice cream cakes do not make a Pride Month offering. The more exciting Pride Month cool treats are the Pride Pops, and there’s three of them. The Pride Pops are layered iced pops in the colors of various Pride flags available during International Pride Month. These frozen delights on stick look so good and taste just as good as they look. The three variants are Rainbow Pride Pop, a light and refreshing fruit-based Ice pop consisting of strawberry, orange, mango, green apple, blueberry and grape; Bear Pride Pop, an indulgent treat of milk-based ice pop in stripes flavored with chocolate, nutella caramel, coffee, vanilla, black sesame and black cocoa; and Transgender Pride Pop, which is a Yakult-based ice pop made with layers of blackberry Yakult, strawberry Yakult, and original Yakult. Pride Pops are sold at P100 each.

No judgment. Just acceptance. And cool icy treats to set the tone for LGBTQ+ Pride Month.