Non-traditional ice cream scoops to beat the summer heat

NEW YORK (WABC) -- You don't need an excuse for ice cream now that it's Memorial Day, as summer and cool treats go hand in hand.

But you don't have to stick with the traditional scoop, as there are many new options to try as a tasty way to beat the heat.

The anti-griddle isn't hot, but super cold, and it's how cream gets frozen in an instant. It's spread out, chopped up and spread out again to ensure that the cream freezes evenly. And when it's ready, it's rolled up and placed in a cup.

"In a way, it's a spring roll," ice cream maker Richard Tam said. "And we have Asian influences to most of our flavors."

Tam learned the technique in Thailand, and his shop 10 Below is located at 10 Mott Street in Chinatown. You can choose want you want added in, and everything is made to order.

"We don't use any additives or preservatives to it," he said. "Really gives that straight out of the ice cream maker taste."

Then there's Snowdays, where a machine creates a snowy kind of ice cream.

"We like to say it's a hybrid between shaved ice and ice cream," owner Tony Quach said. "So you get that light, fluffy texture, but it's finished like ice cream, very creamy."

Quach is getting ready to open his fourth location in New York City. There are six main base flavors, and you can add whatever drizzles or toppings you'd like. The ice cream made with one percent milk, a little cream and no eggs, so it's very light.

"Every cup is 200 calories without any toppings on it," he said. "It's more about the texture. It's fun. It's like eating fresh powdered snow."

And at dessert bar Chickalicious, it's more about the cone that the ice cream. They are actually pastries, inspired by the look of Austrian trdelník, with a cinnamon sugar topping of a churro. They're called churro cones, and they're filled with chocolate or syrup and then the homemade ice cream.

You have to eat all the ice cream to get to the cone part, but that's not really a problem.

Before you know it, you're there, biting into the cone and wondering why cones haven't always been this delicious.