YOUR FAVORITE CMT SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

The Downtown Farmer: Grapefruit Brûlée French Toast

A Delicious Farm-to-Food Truck Recipe from Chef Loreal Gavin

Follow Chef Loreal Gavin as she serves up delicious farm-to-food truck recipes using locally sourced foods from America's top urban farms. New recipes will be uploaded weekly through April on CMT's YouTube channel.

Grapefruit Brûlée French Toast

Total: 25 min

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 10 min

Yield: 4 servings (two pieces of French toast per person )

Ingredients

Rosemary Honey:

2 cups honey

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

French Toast:

8 pieces of dried-out bread such as brioche, challah or white bread

4 whole eggs, room temperature

3 tablespoons cinnamon

1 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean scraped or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

4 cup heavy whipping cream or whole milk

1/4 cup butter (for cooking the French toast)

For Brûlée Grapefruit:

4 whole fresh grapefruit or oranges

2 cups of granulated sugar

1 propane torch (you can buy this piece of equipment at most home improvement stores) or you can use the broiler in your oven at home.

Directions

For the Rosemary Honey:

In a small saucepan on low heat combine the honey and the sprig of rosemary.

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Remove the rosemary from the pan and set aside.

For the French Toast:

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla and heavy whipping cream.

Take the pieces of bread one at a time and rock them back and forth in the French toast batter for about 2 minutes.

If the bread you are using isn't dried out just give it a little action in a toaster first.

Gently remove the batter infused bread from the mixture and let and residual batter drip back into the bowl.

Set all pieces aside on a baking tray.

In a nonstick sauté pan, take a teaspoon of butter and let it melt in the pan coating the bottom evenly.

On medium heat, set a piece of the French toast down into the melted butter.

You should hear a sear noise once you place it down.

Flip the French toast after about 2-3 minutes or until the first side is golden brown.

Feel free to take a fork and have a little peek at the French toast as it is cooking.

I like to add another little fleck of butter into the warm pan when I am about to flip the French toast to caramelize the other side.

To Brûlée Your Grapefruit:

Carefully remove the tops and bottoms of the grapefruit with a sharp knife such as a paring or chef's knife.

Completely cut away the outside peel without taking away too much of the fruit.

Once the fruit is cleaned, slice the grapefruit through the center horizontally.

I like to cut the slices about a half an inch to a full inch.

Lay the pieces onto a heat safe surface such as a baking pan.

Apply a liberal amount of granulated sugar to each face of fruit.

If you are using the torch method, you are ready to start to brûlée the sugar.

It is very important to give the freshly caramelized sugar a moment to cool off so that you don't burn your mouth or your hand.

I recommend using a spatula to place the fruit on the pieces of French toast.

Once you have done this, place one piece of grapefruit on each piece of hot French toast.

Pour the rosemary honey on top and have a seat! Enjoy this hot dish immediately.

Latest News