Serves 6

Grappa is a clear Italian spirit that is made from the grape residue left over from making wine. Here it is used to make a granita, in which its strong flavour contrasts really well with the refreshing fruit salad.

500g caster sugar

200ml grappa

2 ripe papayas

2 ripe mangoes

A few mint leaves, shredded

1 Begin by making a syrup for the granita. Put the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and add 500ml water. Place over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil the liquid for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, then measure 600ml of the sugar syrup, using a heatproof jug. Pour into a shallow plastic container, stir in 700ml cold water and the grappa and place in the freezer overnight.

2 For the fruit, peel and halve the papayas, scoop out the seeds and cut the flesh into bite-sized chunks. Hold the mango in a vertical position and slice off the flesh from either side of the stone. Score the flesh deeply in a criss-cross fashion, making sure you don’t slice through the skin. Then turn the mango halves inside out and simply cut away the cubes from the skin. (You can peel then slice the remaining mango flesh from the stone, but it won’t be easy to make tidy cubes from it. I tend to set the leftovers aside for snacking on or use them to make a smoothie.)

3 Mix together the papaya and mango chunks. Cover and chill the fruit if making ahead, but make sure you return it to room temperature to serve. Divide the fruit between serving dishes. Using a large metal spoon, scrape the granita into shavings. Spoon it on top of the fruit salad and garnish with the shredded mint. Serve immediately.

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