Roasted Grapefruit

Roasted Grapefruit
Michael Kraus for The New York Times
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(259)
Notes
Read community notes

In 2010, Sam Sifton, who was then The New York Times restaurant critic, made a list of the 15 best things he ate in New York City that year. For breakfast, he chose a dish from Pulino’s in SoHo, which is now closed. This quick-cooked grapefruit is not so much a dish as a magic trick, the fruit covered with a caramel of muscovado sugar and mint that transforms it into ambrosia. —Sam Sifton

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Ingredients

Yield:2 servings
  • 1grapefruit
  • cup muscovado sugar
  • 2teaspoons finely chopped mint
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

132 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 32 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 7 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut the grapefruit in half and thoroughly loosen all sections with a knife. Dry the cut surface with a paper towel.

  2. Step 2

    Put the sugar in a 10-inch heavy skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons water to the pan and swirl it into the sugar. Continue swirling until the sugar melts and darkens slightly, approximately 3 to 5 minutes; do not let it burn. Immediately add the grapefruit halves, cut sides down, and turn off the heat.

  3. Step 3

    Move the grapefruit in the pan to coat the surface. Using tongs or two spoons, transfer to serving dishes, cut sides up. Sprinkle with mint and serve immediately.

Ratings

4 out of 5
259 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

we serve baked grapefruit in SE arizona all the time at our B&B... will certainly try the addition of mint and muscovado sugar... but our technique is different. We put the sectioned, halved grapefruit in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes with with a tsp or so of brown sugar sprinkled on top (or agave syrup), and serve with a berry in the center...

It's much easier to broil the grapefruit. After you loosen the sections top the grapefruit with a spoonful of honey, swirl it around to cover, and put it under the broiler until the top bubbles. Takes just a few minutes. I prefer the Texas red grapefruit which is sweeter than the standard.

I peel the red grapefruit with a vegetable peeler and save the peel in the freezer to infuse my tea etc. I then slice the grapefruit into 3 thick slices and trim off the pith with a knife.

I place the slices on a foil lined tray, add tsp sugar of choice, and broil on hi until sugar browns. Dry sugars (white, brown) work best as liquid sugars tend to run off and burn and smoke on tray.

I serve these warm on top of a dollp of Greek yogurt wtih some mint chiffonade. An absolute hit every time.

My mom used to make this for Christmas breakfast but would add a splash of rum to make it festive.

Yes, it was tasty, but if you try this recipe, rinse the skillet out with hot water immediately. Otherwise the sugar gets solid, really solid.

As mentioned in many of the notes, there is an easier version. After separating the grapefruit sections, just sprinkle with muscovado sugar, or even just dark or light brown sugar, and put under the broiler. Even quicker if you like rum, just put 150 proof rum on a teaspoon, and light it on fire and pour over grapefruit. Even for breakfast this is stunning. A little warm grapefruit, a little slightly cooler grapefruit, the sweetness of the sugar, and a dash of bracing rum. Wake me up!!!

I agree- broiling is way to go. I sprinkle with brown sugar. Very quick and easy.

How long is the grapefruit top cooked in the sugar. Is it browned? My Mom always served grapefruit when in season broiled with sugar in the oven. Heavenly.

We put this on broil for 5 minutes, which worked just fine. Also added cinnamon!

My mother did, too JoAnne! It's still just one of the best things on a cold morning and a LOT easier than this recipe!

You could use either. You could use light brown sugar. All good!

My mother often fixed broiled grapefruit when I was a child in the 1940's and 1950's. But she just used a dollop of butter, sugar and cinnamon, rather like using a grapefruit to make cinnamon toast. It was an easy delicious treat - just watch it like a hawk so it doesn't burn, just caramelizes.

Should we use light or dark muscovado ?

This was ok, but didn't look like the picture. Probably wouldn't do again. Just put under the broiler with sugar.

Try Russian style: cut the grapefruit in half, section with grapefruit knife, drizzle with vodka and a couple of twists of ground peppercorns and broil until lightly caramelized. Great for romantic weekends!

Can't imagine for the life of me why adding a jigger of cognac to the sugar slurry isn't mandatory for this recipe. Should be.

Any thoughts on doing this with oranges?

Simple and splendid. Tried twice. First with light brown sugar as I didn't have moscovado . Second time with moscovado as written. The fresh mint sprinkle at end is genius for fresh flavor. Neither time looked quite like the photo but no matter, it was a hit with everyone. Once for dessert. Once for breakfast. For all who share here you learned to do this by broiling in Home Ec class, I did too. But broiling is not this technique. This technique is better. IMHO.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/grapefruit-brulee-recipe-...

But really...how do you get it to look like the one pictured? Thanks!

Concerning broiler vs pan method, we are in complete agreement with Mr Sifton! The process of cooking and stirring the sugar for 3-5 minutes accomplishes something that the broiler simply cannot. Concerning taste, we really appreciated the flavors of the cooked, tended sugar vs broiled sugar. From the standpoint of appearance, neither method achieved the appearance seen in the cover photo - and I would love to know how to do that - but it looks better the way Mr Sifton recommends.

This is so 2010 ;-) and way too sweet! Replace parts of the sugar with just a little bit of salt. It's a fabulous trick to elevate the simple classic 1980's version. Here's an updated recipe with a short story of its background included: https://schibboleth.com/1980s-grapefruit-brulee-paul-gauguins-caramelize...

OMG, I am 82 & learned how to make broiled grapefruit in junior high school food class.

Try Russian style: cut the grapefruit in half, section with grapefruit knife, drizzle with vodka and a couple of twists of ground peppercorns and broil until lightly caramelized. Great for romantic weekends!

Thank you for this recipe, ...as is. For those of us living at very high elevations where an oven is essentially useless, it is nice to find recipes that don't require something like a broiler.
...and this was excellent, by the way!

I would love to try it, but can't have grapefruit: Taking a statin.

I wonder whether orange halves would even be worth trying?

The way to accomplish this is with the microwave: do step one above, then spoon a tablespoon or so of honey over the cut surfaces and mike on high for 1 or two minutes.
Careful handling the grapefruit halves for a minute or two after processing-they will be very hot.

Delicious- scooped up brown sugar syrup and poured over.

We always had this for Christmas breakfast. To make it more festive my mom always poured rum over the top with sugar before it was broiled.

I actually learned to make this in Junior High School many, many years ago! We broiled the grapefruit with brown sugar on top and WOW! It was great. I stopped making it as it isn't low in calories...but it might be a nice treat once in a while!

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Credits

Adapted from Nate Appleman, Pulino’s Bar & Pizzeria, Manhattan

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