Patterned frozen confectionery product

The patterned ice confectionery product prepared by a process comprising the steps of:

• pumping an extrudable ice confectionery composition into a former structure which comprises a die for extruding a shaped product from the former structure and pumping an edible inclusion material, which is selected from the group consisting of a fat-based composition a water-based composition and a sugar syrup composition, via a hollowed spindle and nozzle assembly, wherein the assembly extends within the former structure so that a hollowed spindle extends longitudinally towards the die about an axis of the former structure and a nozzle member extends, with respect to the axis, from the spindle transversely, to a nozzle port opening and so that the assembly is surrounded by ice confectionery composition pumped through the former structure so that the inclusion material is pumped via the nozzle port opening to within the pumped ice confectionery composition, and rotating the assembly about the axis and reciprocating the assembly along the axis so that the inclusion material pumped from the nozzle port opening is distributed to within the pumped ice confectionery composition pumped through the former structure to the die to obtain a composite product pumped to the die and so that the composite product has zones of the ice confectionery which separate and completely surround a plurality of planar inclusion material zones which consist essentially of the inclusion material so that there are ice confectionery composition zones which are free of the inclusion material and which separate and completely surround the planar inclusion material zones and extruding the so-pumped composite product via the die to obtain a composite product strand from the die wherein the ice confectionery zones separate and completely surround the planar inclusion material zones;
• and
• synchronizing the reciprocating and a strand cutting means and cutting through the strand so that the cutting is through a zone of the product strand which is free of the edible inclusion material so that composite product portions which have a plurality of planar inclusion material zones separated one from another and completely surrounded by the ice confectionery zones are obtained.