Peach Melba

Peach Melba Recipe Video (scroll down for printable recipe)

For our French Brunch party, I chose Peach Melba to serve for dessert since it’s peach season and this happens to be one of the easiest desserts in history.

Created by the one and only Escoffier, and named for famous British soprano Nellie Melba, Peach Melba is a very simple and elegant dessert. It’s great for groups and parties because you can poach the peaches and make the sauce a couple days in advance and store in the fridge. All you have to do later is scoop some ice cream.

Because I often fail to replenish my sugar supply (because I really don’t use it much) I happened to try this recipe once using brown sugar instead of white sugar and wow! What a delicious, rich result. Therefore, I state for the record that either white or light brown sugar can be used in this recipe.

Please don’t throw away the vanilla syrup after you’re done! Either use it to poach more peaches another time or add it to a pitcher of thisย frozen sangria for the best sangria you’ll ever drink. Leftover syrup keeps 10 days in the fridge.

Peach Melba Recipe – Printable!

peach melba recipe

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Peach Melba

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  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 vanilla bean, sliced open (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
  • 4 large firm peaches
  • Sauce:
  • 3 cups fresh raspberries or 12 ounce bag frozen, thawed
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Instructions

  1. Combine sugar, water and vanilla bean in a pot over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture boils. Cover and boil 5 minutes. Turn off heat. If using extract instead of vanilla bean pod, add extract now.
  2. Cut peaches in half and remove the pits. Bring syrup to a strong simmer and add peach halves. Poach 2-3 minutes until soft. Cool until you can handle them, then peel. Cool the syrup and store peached with syrup in refrigerator up to 24 hours.
  3. Combine raspberries and sugar in a blender until pureed. Press through a sieve. Refrigerate.
  4. Serve ice cream with peach halves and raspberry syrup.

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peach melba

12 Comments

  1. Jensen Bell on June 20, 2015 at 4:21 pm
  2. Jensen Bell on June 20, 2015 at 4:21 pm

    ๐Ÿ˜‰






  3. Julia Zinsmeister on June 23, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    Hilah! I love your recipes and I love you!!!! On this French theme, any chance of a French macarons recipe/video?? I’ve tried and failed so many times with the damn things but I love them so much!

    • Hilah on June 23, 2015 at 7:44 pm

      I wish, Julia! They have evaded me thus far, as well. But perhaps we will do a different French-themed thing in the future. The series was fun to make, but we also learned a LOT that will make the next one better. ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. clay on June 23, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    Okay.. Hilah.. In the spirit of Summer.. I made Melba this weekend.. Fantastic everyone loved it.. and tonight cut up some strawberries and bananas too.. And then thought of my mama Edna’s shortbread.. I looked for the recipe but couldn’t find it.. We need some Summer Shortbread..

  5. Eileen on July 1, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    Wow! just happened upon this! drooooooolinggggg!!!

  6. Kate on July 21, 2015 at 5:17 pm

    Dame Nellie Melba was an Australian singer. She was born and later died in Australia. Her stage name Melba is a contraction of the Victorian state capital, Melbourne – the state in which she was born. Love your recipes.

    • Hilah on July 22, 2015 at 10:17 am

      Oh cool! I didn’t know that about her name being derived from Melbourne. Thank you!

  7. Brendan on July 29, 2015 at 3:07 am

    Hey Hilah, I really love your recipes! So, I was wondering what can I replace the raspberries with, since raspberries are kind of hard to find in my country and even if I do, it might be expensive. Hope you can help me out ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Hilah on July 29, 2015 at 9:39 am

      Hi Brendan!
      You can use strawberries if those are easier to find. Blackberries would be good, too, and look pretty.

  8. Phua Yong Jun on September 21, 2015 at 7:53 am

    Hey Hilah!
    I was wondering if I can use canned peaches as fresh ones are hard to find here in my country! If so, what do I have to do to the peaches?

    • Hilah on September 21, 2015 at 7:59 am

      Hi! That’s a great question! Yes, canned peaches will work great. The only thing I would suggest is to pour the juice off into a bowl, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, then let the peaches soak in that for an hour or two in the fridge. That wouldn’t even be necessary, though, just might be nice. Enjoy! ๐Ÿ™‚

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