Ice cool: Our Rach knew when she was on to a winner

Picture / Martin Sykes

You can't beat a Trumpet, as the saying goes. One of the confection's enduring images is from the 1980s, starring a young Rachel Hunter consuming a Trumpet in a red VW convertible outside the Piha dairy.

The Tip Top Trumpet is one of the hallmarks of summer in New Zealand. Available in five gooey flavours - chocolate, boysenberry, mint, caramel and vanilla - it has been a part of New Zealand life since its launch in 1964. The trumpet remains one of our most popular ice cream brands.

Most of us grew up with the Trumpet. Kids in the 1960s and 1970s may have consumed thecheaper Popsicles, but they aspired to the luxurious Trumpet. Although the Trumpet's position in dairy refrigerators has been challenged by the arrival of contemporary luxury ice creams such as the Magnum and Moritz, it's still regarded as an engaging treat.

Let's look at the construction. A wafer cone, coated on the inside with chocolate, is stacked from bottom to top with ice cream..

Our Rachel has grown up since her Trumpet days and Volkswagens have changed too, but the Trumpet remains untouched by the march of time.

* This is the final in our series of classic summer ice creams.