For a lot of people, Christmas is the only time they allow themselves to relax, indulge and enjoy. They take some time off from their strict diet and fitness regimen to be an ordinary person who, well, succumbs to cravings and the temptations of holiday food.

After all, this is that time of the year when chefs, cooks and home bakers, among others, go all out to offer their specialty cakes, bakes, platters. Everything is special and worth breaking one’s diet for — for a taste of Christmas flavors that shall only return 12 months later.

ICE CREAM!

Count on master ice cream maker Ian Carandang to always come up with a good Christmas Collection of ice cream and ice cream cakes every year. This year, Sebastian’s Ice Cream offers three special limited-edition Christmas flavors — three ice creams, three Crinkle Chilly Burgers and two ice cream cakes.

The three Christmas ice cream flavors are Bibingka (roasted banana leaf ice cream with bibingka and salted egg chunks, topped with grated coconut); Puto Bumbong (muscovado kakanin ice cream topped with grated coconut and muscovado sugar); and Leche Flan Royale (leche flan ice cream with a rich leche flan ripple). These are available at P165 to P175 per big scoop or P495 to P525 per pint.

As for the Crinkle Chilly Burgers, which are two moist, soft crinkle cookies sandwiching a thick layer of ice cream, Sebastian’s offers three Christmas flavors — Matcha Strawberry Crinkle (matcha crinkles made with real matcha powder and filled with Baguio strawberry ice cream), Ube Macapuno Crinkle (ube crinkles made with ube flour, filled with macapuno ice cream) and Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle (chocolate crinkles filled with cool peppermint ice cream) — at P165 per piece.