Pêche melba • Poached peaches with raspberry coulis

Pêche Melba has definitely been my favorite dessert I’ve made this summer season! We love the freshness from the peaches, the sweetness from the raspberry ‘coulis’, and the refreshing taste from the ice cream. This was actually the dessert we made for our joint-birthday party this past July, and our guests were asking for more!

Pêche Melba was created by French chef Auguste Escoffier in the 1890s while he was working at a London restaurant named Savoy. This is a well-known dessert in France that many restaurants offer on their menu, especially during the summer season.

Optionally, you can make ‘crème chantilly’ and top your peaches and ice cream with it before pouring the raspberry coulis.

Pêche Melba

Course: DessertCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium
Serves

4

glasses/bowls
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

40

minutes

A refreshing summer dessert consisting of peaches simmered in vanilla syrup, vanilla ice cream, and raspberry coulis.

Ingredients

  • 4 4 peaches

  • 200 g 200 sugar

  • 75 g 75 powdered sugar

  • 200 g 200 raspberries

  • 1 1 vanilla pod

  • 3 tbsp 3 lemon juice

  • 1 l 1 water

  • Vanilla ice cream

  • Slices almonds (optional)

  • Chantilly / whipped cream (optional)

Directions

  • To peel the peaches
  • Bring a pot of water to a boil.
  • Once boiling, add the peaches for 1 minute.
  • During that minute, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Plunge the peaches in the ice bath as soon as the minute is over.
  • Dry the peaches using a towel.
  • Peel the peaches with a pairing knife. The skin should come off fairly easily.
  • To poach the peaches
  • In a large pot, add 1 liter of water, the 200 g of sugar, and the vanilla pod. Gently start mixing while bringing to a boil.
  • Once boiling, reduce to low heat and add the peaches. We are poaching them for 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, remove the peaches and set them aside for later.
  • To make the raspberry ‘coulis’
  • Blend together the raspberries, powdered sugar, and lemon juice until obtaining a smooth texture.
  • Pour the mix in a jar or bowl using a sieve. This helps smoothing out the coulis by removing the seeds. Trust me, you don’t want to skip this step!
  • To assemble
  • Cut each peach in half and remove the pit. If desired, you can cut the peaches in quarters, like we did.
  • In a glass container or bowl, add a couple quarters of peaches, a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream, another quarter of peach, and then pour raspberry coulis to cover everything.
  • Bon appétit !

Recipe Video

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