COOK-OFF RECIPES:

Jason Ford, from the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE, Kingaroy, prepared a Dragon Fruit Sorbet served with Peanut Butter Ice Cream and Caramel Wafers at the 2009 PCA South Burnett Cook-Off.

Wine Accompaniment: Cranes Liqueur Verdelho

Ingredients
2 dragon fruit (either red, white or yellow)
1 cup water
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 lemon, juiced

Method
Put the sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and remove from heat. Allow the sugar syrup to cool.

While the sugar syrup is cooling, cut the dragon fruit into halves and scrape the flesh out with a spoon.

(If you wish to serve the sorbet in the hollowed out halves, rub the inner surface and the cut edge with some lemon juice to preserve the colour. Keep cool in the fridge).

Purée the flesh in a blender to a smooth purée. Add the lemon juice and sugar syrup to the purée.

Churn the mixture in an ice cream machine until thick and frozen. Remove sorbet from machine and set to a scooping consistency in the freezer.

NB: You can use a sorbet maker (electric or manual are best) or your can just use a pot and a whisk. If using the latter, keep it in the freezer, whisking from time to time. This works but does not make as fine grain a sorbet as the machines.