Gold Kiwi Salad with Tangelo Granita
Fruit salads aren’t just cut up fruit in a bowl! We love adding a bit of pizzazz and we make no exception of this Gold Kiwi Salad. The sublime tangelo granita is not only easy to make at home but makes for the best summer dessert!
Why I Love Gold Kiwi Salad with Tangelo Granita
Not only do I often get asked to bring a savoury salad for a dinner party, I do also get asked to bring a fruit salad.
Whilst I make a mean, basic fruit salad, I also like to mix it up a bit. We sometimes don’t want a dessert per se, i.e. rich and heavy cakes or sweet pies at the end of a big dinner. We sometimes prefer something a little more refreshing or a lighter dessert offering.
I therefore love to add something a little more to my fruit salads, especially for the kids and for those who have a bit of a sweet tooth.
Aiming for a yellow and orange coloured dessert fruit salad, this passionfruit recipe was such an easy one to create. And tangelos were in season so I couldn’t resist adding this to the mix instead of just the everyday oranges.
The effect is gorgeous. My friends are used to the fact that I don’t just make a basic fruit salad and they are always eagerly waiting to see what I’ve come up with at every dinner party.
The vibrant orange colour of the granita was fantastic and I got the “oohs” and “aahs” I was hoping for. And when it was followed by “YUM!”, I knew I hit the mark for this super easy fruit salad recipe.
What Is Tangelo?
The most common variety of tangelos we get in Australia are the Minneola tangelos. This variety is a hybrid of a mandarin and grapefruit. Other varieties of tangelos can be a cross between a mandarin and a pomelo.
Even though the tangelo is not a common go-to citrus fruit for many people, it has been cited that this fruit probably originated in Asia almost 3,500 years ago!
Tangelos are easily identifiable with its trademark knob at the stem. The skin has a deep orange colour and is pebbly or has small little bumps in its texture.
The skin is easy to peel and is loose against the flesh so it comes away easily. The flesh is super juicy, has very few seeds and is sweet and tart in flavour.
I personally prefer the tangelo to an orange. Hence when it is in season, I do tend to consume more of these than the common counterpart and always finding ways to make tangelos recipes.
Because it’s so juicy, (I always have to put the whole segment in my mouth or eat it over a small bowl) it is the perfect fruit to extract a lot of juice to make the granita.
For savoury salads with tangelo, you might like: Tangelo Salad with Roasted Beetroot or Fennel and Courgette Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts.
Difference Between Green and Gold Kiwi Fruit?
From an appearance perspective, the gold kiwi is smaller, less elongated and is smoother to touch. The green kiwi has more hair on the skin and more elongated in its shape.
When you cut the fruit in half, the gold kiwi fruit obviously has a yellow flesh as opposed to the green flesh of the green kiwi. The green kiwi has more black seeds than the gold kiwi and it has a bigger core.
From a texture perspective, they are about the same. They are both soft and when ripe, easy to squish in your mouth without even having to chew them.
From a taste perspective, well, I can honestly say I sometimes think I’m eating 2 different fruits! The green kiwi has a sweet, tangy taste and very occasionally, they border on being a bit too sour.
The gold kiwi on the other hand is just sweet and you’re pretty much always guaranteed that it is. They therefore make a great fruit salad ingredient to sweeten up fruits which either lack in flavour like the dragon fruit or is sometimes too tart like a green mango.
Which is why it’s also great for savoury salads such as our Prawn and Avocado Salad with Golden Kiwi.
How to Choose A Gold Kiwi Fruit?
This applies to both of the varieties. Select the kiwi fruit that is firm to hold. Also make sure the skin is not wrinkly as that’s a sign that the kiwi fruit is overripe.
For this kiwi salad, it would be best to use kiwi that is on the firmer side so that it will hold well.
Gold kiwi does get sweeter the riper they become so if that is your preference, let it ripen over the next couple of days before consuming them.
How to Tell Passionfruit Is Ripe?
The first way to determine if a passionfruit is ripe is by its colour. Generally, a green coloured passionfruit is nowhere near ready and this is applicable for all varieties.
You want passionfruit that has a deep purple, red and/or yellow in colour, depending on the variety.
The Black, Misty Gem and Sweetheart passionfruit varieties will generally be purple in colour whilst the Panama variety will be redder rather than purple.
The Sweet Granadilla variety, which Phen and I ate like fiends in Bali, because we can’t get them in Australia, will be a bright yellow.
Another way to tell if a passionfruit is ripe is by its texture. We want them to be wrinkly with small dimples. They aren’t much to look at but they are at its best. The Panama variety however has a much smoother texture and don’t go as wrinkly as the others.
Instructions
Step by step instructions for how to make gold kiwi salad with tangelo granita:
How to Make Granita
Making granita is so easy and the combination of flavours are truly endless.
Juice all the tangelos and then strain the juice into a small saucepan. Put in on low to medium heat.
Crush the cardamom pods to release the flavours. Add them into the saucepan once it starts to boil a little.
Slowly add the caster sugar. Stir until it is dissolved. This process doesn’t take long at all.
This recipe yields a fairly sweet concoction so feel free to decrease the amount of sugar if you and your guests aren’t real sweet tooths. Once it has fully dissolved, set it aside and allow it to cool.
Get a baking dish that is more than an inch deep. Using a strainer, pour the mixture into the baking dish so that the cardamom pods are removed.
Place the baking dish in the freezer. After 2 hours, remove it and with a fork, scrape the soft granita to form icy crystals. Place it back in the freezer and repeat this process after 2 hours. Then leave it overnight to fully set.
How to Prepare the Kiwi Salad?
Cut the ends off the gold kiwi fruit. This also makes it easier to peel them.
Peel all of them and then cut them into small cubes. Place them in a small bowl.
Cut the passionfruit in half and scoop out all the pulp. Place them in a separate bowl. You don’t want to mix it with the kiwi fruit as it will start to water.
How to Assemble the Kiwi Salad
This dessert fruit salad is best served in a fancy glass with a stem such as a martini glass or a retro Champagne saucer. It just adds to the chicness of dessert and you also want your guests to see the layers of the fruit and granita.
Bring out the granita from the freezer and give it another scrape with the fork to loosen up the delicious tangelo flavoured ice crystals.
Divide the gold kiwi fruit equally across the 4 glasses. Add the passionfruit pulp on top.
Then add the granita on top of the fruit salad and build it high for effect. Serve it immediately as granita does melt very quickly.
Fruit salad doesn’t always just entail cut up pieces of fruit in a bowl. There are so many ways to spruce them up and for a non-dessert maker like me, granita is easy enough to whip up without needing any baking techniques.
This tangelo recipe is sublime and the yellow and orange colours are gorgeous. Enjoy this dessert fruit salad on a hot summer’s day!
More Dessert Fruit Salads:
FEED YOUR FOMO! For more sides and salads, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to get our latest updates.
Gold Kiwi Salad with Tangelo Granita
Ingredients
- 8 tangelos
- 8 cardamom pods
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 8 gold kiwi fruit
- 6 passionfruit
Click on the toggle below for conversion to US Cooking Units.
Instructions
Granita
- Juice the tangelos. Strain the tangelo juice into a small saucepan to remove all the seeds.
- Crush the cardamom pods to release the flavours. Add the cardamom pods into the small saucepan of tangelo juice. Put on medium heat and then slowly stir in the caster sugar.
- Turn off the heat once the sugar has dissolved. Leave it to the side and allow it to cool.
- Pour the mixture through a strainer to remove all the cardamom pods, into a baking dish and place it in the freezer.
- After 2 hours, remove from the freezer and with a fork, scrape the frozen granita to make ice crystals.
- Place it back in the freezer and repeat this process 2 hours later.
- Leave the granita in the freezer overnight.
Fruit Salad
- Cut off the ends of the gold kiwi fruit and peel them.
- Cut them into small cubes and place them into a small mixing bowl.
- Cut the passionfruit in half and scoop out the pulp and place in a separate mixing bowl.
Assembly
- The best way to serve this is in glasses with stems.
- Bring out the granita from the freezer and loosen up the icy crystals with a fork.
- Place the kiwi fruit into the glass.
- Place the passionfruit pulp on top of the kiwi fruit.
- Place the granita on top of the fruit.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can certainly replace the tangelos with oranges of any kind. In fact, any citrus combination would work well.
- 1 cup of caster sugar will yield a fairly sweet granita concoction. Decrease the amount should you prefer it to be less sweet.
- If you’d like to make an adult version, add a shot or two of rum or port into the granita mixture.
Nutrition
*Disclaimer: Nutritional information provided is an estimate only and generated by an online calculator.
Disclaimer: This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you.
Gold Kiwi sald with tangleo granita is really delicious. I loved it as you as cardamom pods.
The cardamom are a little pods of something special. Glad you liked it.
I loved the instructions on how to make granita. Didn’t realise it’s so easy. I’ll have to play around with that now. The combination of fruits here was amazing and refreshing. Just what I need for dessert in summer.
Great! Glad it was useful. Yeah it is easy and now the world is your oyster!
I found this recipe when I found golden kiwis on sale at the store. Super tasty overall!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it:) Have to admit when it goes for cheap we buy heaps too.
This is the best fruit salad for summer and warm days. The granita is just so delicious and love the touch of cardamom.
Thanks! Yeah the cardamom gives it a little lift and some glorious flavours.
What a great summer salad recipe. Kiwis are so nutritious. This will be perfect on the patio.
It sure is!
I’ve recently seen golden kiwi at my grocery store but didn’t know what to do with them besides eat them as is. Thanks for the great recipe! Love the delicious combination of fruit (especially the addition of passionfruit).
We love gold kiwi so much! Super sweet and juicy.
Wow, an impressive array of fruit! I’m not sure if I’ve had golden kiwi, sounds tasty. I am a tangelo fan too! This seems perfectly refreshing for a warmer day.
All of the citrus flavors meld together perfectly in the fruit salad! The cardamom adds a spicy hint to it too.