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Peach Melba

Peach Melba is a famous dessert created in 1893 by an equally famous chef, Auguste Escoffier, and inspired by the singer Nellie Melba.
There have been many versions of this well-known dish but, in principal, it consists of vanilla ice cream, poached peaches, raspberry coulis and sweetened whipped cream (Chantilly). This is a simplified version.

80,3344.0/5 for 23 ratings

Last modified on: September 9^th 2012

For 6 people, you will need:

Change for:

Measures:

How long does it take?

Time required

Preparation	Start to finish
2 hours 20 min.	2 hours 20 min.

Keeping:

Does not keep.

At what time?

When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?

Work this out...

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 2 hours

Prepare 3 peaches: peel and poach them in the Poaching syrup.

Leave to cool then dice (not too small).

Prepare the Chantilly cream.

Stage 2 - 5 min.

Begin assembling the peach Melba:

Place 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream in the bottom of each dish.

Stage 3 - 5 min.

Add a layer of peaches.

Stage 4 - 5 min.

Pour some raspberry coulis over.

Stage 5 - 5 min.

Finish with Chantilly cream and serve immediately.

Remarks

There have been innumerable versions of peach Melba, and just as many strange uses of the term (who has not seen any-old-thing 'Melba', as soon as vanilla ice cream and whipped cream are involved). It's worth remembering that this is the original recipe.

It would be unusual to find the original recipe in most people's kitchens these days, so here's an extract from the master chef's own book 'Ma Cuisine':

Escoffier melba recipe

'Fill the dishes to three-quarters of their height with vanilla ice-cream; place half a tender-fleshed peach, poached in vanilla syrup, in the centre, the outside of the peach resting on the ice cream; place a stone made of praline marzipan in the hollow, giving the illusion of a real stone. Coat with raspberry purée with a little Chantilly cream added. Cover with a light veil of spun sugar.'

At the same time, I wonder if it's possible to taste the original dish anywhere now? Far from certain.

Even so, we can look out for the essential flavours (which chefs call 'markers') which should be present to get somewhere near the original: vanilla ice cream, poached peach, raspberry, praline marzipan and Chantilly cream.

Nutritional information

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 6 people : 8.56 €
Per person : 1.43 €

Note : These prices are only approximate

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Source

After Auguste Escoffier.

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Chantilly cream: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Strawberry Verveine Tart , Mini Mont-Blanc choux puffs, Strawberries in a thyme and lemon-flavoured red wine reduction, Ice-cream Vacherin, Strawberry Charlotte, ... All
	Vanilla ice cream: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Baked Alaska, Little caramelized peach tarts, Profiteroles, Ice-cream Vacherin, Poire Belle Hélène, ... All
	Fruit coulis (fruit purée): You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Macarons (the original French macaroons) , Coupe Augustin, Half-cooked chocolate cake with raspberry coulis, European glass, Apricot fool, ... All
	Peach: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Peach and blackcurrant coupe, Little caramelized peach tarts, Peach and verbena feuilleté, Peach and green tea tart, How to poach peaches, ... All

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