Make mine a Guinness - with ice-cream. MAXINE GORDON places her order at York's first licensed gelateria

MARK SHENTON likes to do things differently.

When he opened his second ice-cream parlour in York he soon developed a reputation for unusual flavours, earning the nick-name Willy Wonka.

"We've done black pudding with baked beans, pear and stilton, crab meat and peanut, horseradish and even prawn cocktail," says Mark, owner of La Cremeria on High Petergate who has expanded into La Cremeria Grande on Goodramgate.

And he didn't stop there.

From Thursday, the former chef will be serving up ice-cream cocktails, boozy sorbets and alcoholic milkshakes at the Goodramgate venue, which is open from 10am-10pm.

On the menu will be unusual combinations of vanilla ice-cream with creme de menthe, gin and tonic sorbet, white wine with berry sorbet and fresh raspberries and a fruit cider shake made with ice-cream and fresh berries.

If that all sounds a bit girly, then how about a pint of Guinness, blended with vanilla ice-cream and a shot of coffee liqueur?

Isn't it a bit odd, cream with booze?

Mark shakes his head. "People have cocktails, don't they? That's mixing cream with alcohol and that works."

We put some of Mark's creations to the taste test during our visit. It was a happy hour indeed.

My favourite was the cider milkshake. Its pretty powder-pink colour was certainly inviting, and it tasted heavenly: light with sweet, berry notes and a sherbet-like fizz on the tongue from the Kopparberg cider. Definitely one to drink with a straw.

A close second came the gin and tonic sorbet. This is G&T served as a dessert, and was light and refreshing, yet still delivered a kick from the alcohol.

A rival was the gin and tonic served with bramble and apple sorbet. This offered the best of both options: you could still sip your G&T and dig in to the sorbet, which had absorbed some of the distinctive botanical flavours of the spirit. A case of having your gin - and eating it.

Desserts are sinful enough, but Mark's creations take their naughtiness to a new level. The vanilla ice-cream drenched in lurid green creme de menthe was a winner too, minty and milky sweet, this would be fantastic made with a chocolate or stracciatella ice cream too - a mint Aero in a bowl.

York Press:

La Cremeria Grande, Goodramgate, York, will be selling its unique boozy ices and cocktails from Thursday

Mark hopes the new menu will be popular - the cafe already takes bookings for parties and imagines alcoholic ice-creams and drinks will be a winner.

Upstairs, he is creating a slice of 24/7 summer by installing a "garden room" with faux-grass carpet, sky blue walls and wicker furniture - and a striking view of the Minster.

"People think we are just an ice-cream parlour, but we do a lot more," says Mark.

The cafe, which opened in May, serves a range of sandwiches and toasted snacks as well as home-made soups and cakes - many of which are gluten free.

There is also a wide choice of non-alcoholic ice-cream and sorbet flavours, from the classic vanilla, chocolate and strawberry through to more unusual recipes such as dairy ice-cream with a lime and chocolate ripple and an Earl Grey and lemon sorbet. All iced products are made in house using quality ingredients, adds Mark.

Each week, Mark takes experimentation to the edge with some controversial combos. "There are at least 750 flavours of ice-cream but I have got to have something new," he says.

Recent successes have included avocado with almond, strawberry and beetroot, pear and parsnip and curried banana with a mango chutney ripple. A restaurant regularly orders a vat of coconut and sweetcorn chocolate ripple that they serve as a dessert with jerk sauce, deep fried plantain and Jamaican corn dumplings. Another hit is the Thai-influenced chilli and lemongrass ice-cream with lime.

Mark says: "I have one customer who comes in and specifically asks: 'what have you got on that's odd today?' If I have nothing, he says he'll go away and come back the next day!"

Mark opened the second parlour because he couldn't keep up with the demand at La Cremeria on High Petergate, which is a smaller site.

"In summer, we were running out of ice-cream at three o'clock," says Mark. The new premises is much larger and allows them to increase production - turning out up to 60 litres at a time.

Serving ice-cream with an alcoholic twist should fill a gap in the market, says Mark. "It's something different. There's nowhere like it."

I'll drink to that.