Peach Melba - Authentic French Recipe

What is Peach Melba? How It Got its Name

Peach Melba is a timeless French dessert consisting of poached vanilla peaches served over vanilla ice cream and topped with a tangy raspberry purée.

Pêches Melba was created by French chef Auguste Escoffier in London while at the Savoy Hotel. Inspired by Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba's legendary performance of Wagner's Lohengrin, Escoffier created this culinary musical tribute, similar to his Pear Belle Hélène and Strawberries Romanoff.

Initially presented as a simple combination of ice cream and peaches in a swan-shaped dish, Escoffier later added the signature raspberry sauce and named the dessert in Melba's honour.

Originally Helen Porter Mitchell, Melba adopted her stage name in 1886 at the advice of her Parisian singing teacher while seeking fame with her Scottish father in the UK (OK, this is a detail, but I was smitten she also had a Scottish Dad!)

Ingredients to Make Peach Melba

Ideally, for the best Peach Melba, you need these few simple fresh ingredients.

• Fresh Peaches - use ripe peaches but not TOO ripe, either. The 'Larousse des Desserts' specifies white peaches although yellow - or even nectarines, are just as good. However, if you're craving this dessert out of season, then use canned/tinned peaches and forget the poaching part (although less flavour).
• Fresh Raspberries - a punnet is sufficient. As mine were bashed in my market bag, it was perfect to purée them but save a few to decorate.
  Use frozen rasps if out of season.
• Vanilla Ice Cream - either use homemade or ready-bought. Personally, I love this made with homemade lemon verbena ice cream - a real treat but stick to vanilla for the authentic recipe! (Follow the recipe using 2 vanilla beans.)
• Vanilla Syrup - make a simple syrup with sugar, water and vanilla. Ideally use a vanilla bean but, as the latter is rather expensive, I use dried bean powder.
  If you have some lemon verbena leaves (fresh or dried), then add a few to make this extra special.

Peach Melba Recipe

Carefully plunge the peaches into a large bowl of boiling water for no more than 30 seconds. This makes peeling off the skins easy. What's more, the peaches take on the syrup's flavour easier without the skin.

Stir together the sugar into the water in a saucepan with the vanilla powder and bring to the boil for 5 minutes.

Escoffier's authentic recipe is just with vanilla (no lemon juice) but I also love adding fresh (or dried) lemon verbena leaves. They add a subtle lemony fragrance without the acid; you'll find the raspberries already do that job nicely!

Gently lower each peeled peach into the simmering syrup with a large spoon (so not to bruise them) and poach for 5 minutes, turning halfway. Remove from the syrup (otherwise they'll turn mushy) and cool for about 30 minutes. Once cool, slice in 2 or quarter and discard the stones.

For the raspberry sauce, simply blitz the raspberries to a purée with a hand-blender. If your raspberries are particularly acidic, add a spoonful of sugar to your taste - but the acidity is delicious with the ice cream.

For frozen raspberries, see my easy raspberry coulis recipe.

How to Serve

Serve Peach Melba in individual dessert bowls, each with the scoop of ice cream, sliced poached peaches and top with the raspberry sauce. Although optional, top with some toasted almond flakes or French almond tuile cookies for a little crunch.