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    Home » Desserts » Fresh Fruit Desserts » Dragon Fruit “Ice Cream” with Pomegranate

    Dragon Fruit "Ice Cream" with Pomegranate

    Oct 11, 2018 · by Valentina · 20 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Dragon Fruit "Ice Cream" with Pomegranate Glaze is a trick AND a treat! This exotic Dragon Fruit dessert is the most delicious way to elevate your Halloween meal -- or any meal.3 large scoops of dragon fruit with pomegranate glaze in a white bowl

    First, what is Dragon Fruit? One large magenta dragon fruit with black background.

    • This delicately sweet fruit is an exotic cactus that was originally grown in Central America. Now Dragon fruit grows mostly in southern California and Florida.
    • The exterior color ranges from yellow to hot pink to red, with touches or yellow and green. The interior color of Dragon Fruit can be white or magenta — and sometimes somewhere in-between. Those that are magenta are the sweetest.

    What does Dragon Fruit Taste Like?

    • Dragon Fruit tastes like a blend of a soft pear and kiwi, with a wonderful and subtle crunch from the tiny black seeds.

    Magenta Dragon Fruit cut in half.Photo Credit for above magenta Dragon Fruit: melissas.com

    Dragon Fruit for Halloween

    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 for a Dragon Fruit dessert that in is both and a trick and a treat.

    Melissa's Produce Freaky Fruits including rambutan and pomegranatePhoto credit for Freaky Fruits image: Melissas.com

    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.

    One dragon fruit with top halfway cut off

    A Trick and a Treat!

    • The treat. The treat is the super tasty, naturally sweet dragon fruit.
    • The trick. The trick is that it’s presented to look like ice cream, but of course it’s not.

    Dragon fruit with one scoop in an ice cream scooper

    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 son took one look at it, and thought it might be sushi rice with black sesame seeds. Not a bad guess.

    Dragon fruit being scoope out of skin with an ice cream scooper

    I treated the Dragon Fruit like a pint of ice cream.

    Dragon fruit with one scoop in an ice cream scooper

    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.

    Pomegranate Glaze

    Pomrgranate broken into thirds with seeds spilling outFirst the pomegranate is blended into a juice and then strained.Pomegranate seeds in a blender.

    It's then cooked into a syrup which is drizzled over the Dragon Fruit scoops, adding to the allure of this dessert.

    Never seeded a pomegranate? Here's how.

    Small strainer over a glass with pomegranate juice

    And a delicate touch of finger lime, gives it just a hint of tart crunch that brings the whole thing together.

    You can learn more about finger limes here.

    One finger lime, sliced in half, lenghtwise

    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!

    3 large scoops of dragon fruit in a white bowl

    This Dragon Fruit dessert is light, health and fun.

    Other Ways to Eat Dragon Fruit

    There are some foods that I think are better left untouched. Meaning, they’re not used in a recipe, but are simply eaten and admired just as they are -- like the "Ice Cream."

    You can also easily be scoop the flesh into tiny balls like this . . . Magenta dragon fruit half full of balls of the white and black speckled flesh.

    You can also use a knife to peel it, keeping it whole, and then you can slice or dice it any way you like.Magenta and white Dragon Fruit partially peeled.

    Even the emptied skin is beautiful. Two halves of a magenta dragon fruit - one full and the other with scoops taken out of it.Dragon fruit is also lovely in sorbet, ice cream and cocktails.

    A couple more Halloween treats . . .

    • Pumpkin Almond Cookies
    • Halloween Spider Chocolate Truffles

    Oh, and these Witch Finger Grapes are another fun fruit for Halloween, too.

    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.

    3 large scoops of dragon fruit with pomegranate glaze in a white bowl with title

    Dragon Fruit "Ice Cream" with Pomegranate Glaze

    Valentina K. Wein
    This exotic fruit dessert is the most delicious way to elevate your Halloween meal this year.
    5 from 7 votes
    Print
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 5 mins
    Total Time 15 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 4
    Calories 79 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 seeded pomegranates (here's how to seed them)
    • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 2 dragon fruit (white interior)
    • 2 finger limes

    Instructions
     

    • Make the glaze. 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 ½ cup of the juice after straining.)
      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.
    • Prepare the Dragon Fruit. Cut the tops off the dragon fruits (see above images). Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out as many scoops as possible from each one. Treat the tops as the lids to a pint-sized container of ice cream.
    • Assemble. When you serve the dragon fruit scoops, drizzle the desired amount of pomegranate syrup over it, and add about ½ teaspoon of finger lime “caviar” to each one.

    Notes

    If you can't get your hand on finger limes, a little fresh lime juice is great, too.
    Keywords dessert for Halloween party, exotic fruit desserts
    Have you tried this recipe?I'd love to see it on Instagram! Tag me at @cookingontheweekends or leave a comment & rating below.

    More Fresh Fruit Desserts

    • Meyer Lemon Crinkle Cookies
    • Guava Ice Cream (No-Churn)
    • Passion Fruit Cheesecake (No-Bake)
    • Spiced Apple Butter Muffins

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Cathy

      October 11, 2018 at 3:56 pm

      What a clever idea!

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:07 am

        Thank you, Cathy! 🙂 xo

        Reply
    2. David

      October 11, 2018 at 10:24 pm

      I 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!

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:12 am

        We 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! 🙂

        Reply
    3. Adrianne

      October 12, 2018 at 1:45 am

      Hey 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!

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:13 am

        Thanks so much Adrianne! Yes, hoping for happy kids on Halloween.:-)

        Reply
    4. Cliona Keane

      October 12, 2018 at 2:58 am

      How exotic! I would never have thought of using dragon fruit this way, but I'll definitely have to give it a go!

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:13 am

        Exotic indeed. Enjoy and thanks!

        Reply
    5. Danielle Wolter

      October 12, 2018 at 4:00 am

      SO I have never cooked with dragon fruit before so I love these tips here. These flavors all sound so delicious!!

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:18 am

        Thanks! 🙂

        Reply
    6. Lisa | Garlic & Zest

      October 12, 2018 at 4:12 am

      You'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.

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:18 am

        Thanks, Lisa. Enjoy!

        Reply
    7. Lauren Vavala

      October 12, 2018 at 4:36 am

      This 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!

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:18 am

        Thanks Lauren, you can also use a bit of lime juice if you can't get your hands on the finger limes. 🙂

        Reply
    8. Kelly Anthony

      October 12, 2018 at 4:43 am

      Dragon fruit is so fun! I've never bought dragon fruit but this would be fun to make with this kids this Halloween.

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:17 am

        Hope you have fun with it!

        Reply
    9. David @ Spiced

      October 12, 2018 at 5:58 am

      What 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!

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:16 am

        Thanks so much David! I've mostly had dragon fruit in salads too. Fun to mix it up. Hope you try it! 🙂

        Reply
    10. Ron

      October 12, 2018 at 7:53 am

      Fantastic 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.

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 12, 2018 at 10:15 am

        Thank you so much, Ron! Not too much to it, but it was indeed fun. 🙂

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Valentina, certified chef, owner, recipe developer and photographer at Cooking on the Weekends. I'm also a mom of two boys and a Los Angeleno. I use seasonal whole foods to create unique and comforting recipes for casual entertaining.

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