Dragon Fruit “Ice Cream” with Pomegranate Glaze is a trick AND a treat! This exotic fruit dessert is the most delicious way to elevate your Halloween meal.
I’ve never really been into scary or gory stuff. For Halloween or otherwise.
I do however love cute and/or pretty. For just about everything, including food.
So when Melissa’s Produce challenged a handful of food bloggers to use some of their “freaky fruits” to make something for Halloween, I had a pretty idea, that in is both a trick and a treat.
Photo credit for Freaky Fruits image: Melissas.com
Perfect, right?
I decided to use dragon fruit, pomegranate and finger limes to make Dragon Fruit “Ice Cream” with Pomegranate Glaze.
There’s really not too much to it, as it’s essentially only three ingredients and is all about the presentation.
An exotic cactus, the treat is the super tasty, naturally sweet dragon fruit, and the trick is that it’s presented to look like ice cream, but of course it’s not.
I know, it’s not a huge trick — but, at first glance you might not know what you’re looking at.
To my point, my 14-year-old took one look at it, and thought it might be sushi rice with black sesame seeds. Not a bad guess!
It’s super fun to make. I simply treated the dragon fruit like a pint of ice cream.
I liken cutting off the top of the fruit to removing the lid from the carton. Then the fruit is scooped out, just as ice cream would be.
First the pomegranate is blended into a juice and then strained.
It’s then cooked into a syrup which is drizzled over the dragon fruit scoops, adding to the allure of this dessert.
And a delicate touch of finger lime, gives it just a hint of tart crunch that brings the whole thing together.
My Dragon Fruit “Ice Cream” with Pomegranate Glaze is elegant enough for a fancy dinner party, and fun enough for an after school snack for the kids.
And pretty enough for any occasion!
There’s more information about dragon fruit here, and about finger limes here.
Never seeded a pomegranate? Here’s how.
And here are a couple more — this time cute — Halloween treats . . .
This is not a sponsored post. Melissa’s Produce invited me to participate in a contest using some of their Freaky Fruits, and provided me with those I used in this recipe.
This exotic fruit dessert is the most delicious way to elevate your Halloween meal this year.
- 2 seeded pomegranates (here's how to seed them)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 dragon fruit (white interior)
- 2 finger limes
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Add the pomegranate seeds to a blender and and blend until it looks like juice, about 10 seconds. Strain, and then pour the juice into a small saucepan and add the sugar to it. (You should have about 1/2 cup of the juice after straining.)
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Place the pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat to low and simmer until it thickens to a syrup consistency, and is reduced by about half.
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Cut the tops off the dragon fruits (see above images). Use an ice cream scoop out as many scoops as possible from each on. Treat the tops as the lids to a pint-sized container of ice cream. Get the idea?
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When you serve the dragon fruit scoops, drizzle the desired amount of pomegranate syrup over it, and add about 1/2 teaspoon of finger lime “caviar” to each one.
If you can't get your hand on finger limes, a little fresh lime juice is great, too.
Cathy says
October 11, 2018 at 3:56 pmWhat a clever idea!
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:07 amThank you, Cathy! 🙂 xo
David says
October 11, 2018 at 10:24 pmI have seen dragon fruit in our Asian market from time to time, but I have yet to access finger limes – and I am dying to try them. I think next time work brings me to LA, I need to visit Melissa!
Your “ice cream” looks wonderful and not too creepy! I used to run a summer camp for kids and we always did a Halloween reunion… and we had a “gross out” Halloween party. Think peeled grapes as eyeballs floating in punch, or cottage cheese brains in jello… you get the idea. The dragon fruit would have been a great addition!
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:12 amWe did a similar party for my son’s 5th grade class a couple of years ago. The other “party mom” was super into the gory stuff and we even got chicken feet form the butcher at our local market. Kids were blind folded and guessed what various things were by touching them. Gross! In any case, I hope you find finger limes one day! They are so cool, and SO tasty! You can get a small package of them here for $3, if you feel like ordering online. 🙂 Cheers! 🙂
Adrianne says
October 12, 2018 at 1:45 amHey Valentina,
What a very cool idea!
I had never heard of finger limes before reading this post, but I love the photo of it cut open. The recipe looks fabulous with the dragon-fruit balls and I see some happy Halloweeners with this one!
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:13 amThanks so much Adrianne! Yes, hoping for happy kids on Halloween.:-)
Cliona Keane says
October 12, 2018 at 2:58 amHow exotic! I would never have thought of using dragon fruit this way, but I’ll definitely have to give it a go!
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:13 amExotic indeed. Enjoy and thanks!
Danielle Wolter says
October 12, 2018 at 4:00 amSO I have never cooked with dragon fruit before so I love these tips here. These flavors all sound so delicious!!
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:18 amThanks! 🙂
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
October 12, 2018 at 4:12 amYou’ve blown me away with this. I’ve only bought dragon fruit a few times. Now I have another excuse to pick it up at the market.
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:18 amThanks, Lisa. Enjoy!
Lauren Vavala says
October 12, 2018 at 4:36 amThis is so unique! Dragon fruit is so fun to work with, but I’ve never seen those finger limes! Definitely going to keep an eye out for those so I can try this!
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:18 amThanks Lauren, you can also use a bit of lime juice if you can’t get your hands on the finger limes. 🙂
Kelly Anthony says
October 12, 2018 at 4:43 amDragon fruit is so fun! I’ve never bought dragon fruit but this would be fun to make with this kids this Halloween.
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:17 amHope you have fun with it!
David @ Spiced says
October 12, 2018 at 5:58 amWhat a fun and unique idea! To be honest, I’m not sure I’ve used cooked with dragon fruit. I’ve tasted it (usually in fruit salads), and I’ve seen it in the stores…but I’ve never actually cooked with it. That was a surprisingly good guess on the sushi, too. It does look like that! I love the flavors you’ve got going on here, and I would love a bowl of this after dinner. Sounds delicious, Valentina!
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:16 amThanks so much David! I’ve mostly had dragon fruit in salads too. Fun to mix it up. Hope you try it! 🙂
Ron says
October 12, 2018 at 7:53 amFantastic presentation, images and idea. From looking at the first image, I had it in my head that you had made ice cream. Then you showed scooping out the dragon fruit, brilliant. What fun you must of had making this.
valentina says
October 12, 2018 at 10:15 amThank you so much, Ron! Not too much to it, but it was indeed fun. 🙂