Peach Melba

Peach, Raspberry and Vanilla. Trio of love. Pêche Melba is a classical French dessert. The peaches are poached in a simple syrup, then served with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis. I modified the raspberry coulis part because we all need shortcuts. Substituting the raspberry coulis by your favorite brand of raspberry sorbet and the dessert got a lot easier! The simple syrup has some peach liqueur to give extra love to the peaches.
The toasted almond flakes add texture and crunch to the soft delicate peaches and creamy cold ice creams.

The little Melba story; it was created in London where Auguste Escoffier was working in 1894. It was a “thank you dessert” for Nellie Melba an Australian opera singer who invited Escoffier to attend her performance a few days earlier. 

Peach Melba

Recipe credits: Rafaella Sargi
Serves 4

Ingredients
1/3 cup slivered almonds
4 peaches, ripe but still firm
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon peach liqueur
Vanilla ice cream
Raspberry sorbet
12 fresh raspberries for decoration*

Directions
You will need on small frying pan, a serrated vegetable peeler, a small pot, a small ice cream scoop and 4 individual serving bowl (or cups).

Place the slivered almonds in a small frying pan and toast them over medium-heat until lightly brown. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Peel the peaches, cut them in half and remove the pit. Set aside.

Put the sugar and water in a small pot and let it come to a boil over medium-heat. The sugar should be completely dissolved. Lower the heat to medium-low then add the peach liqueur and let it simmer for 2 minutes.
Immerse the peach halves in the syrup and poach for 5 minutes total, delicately turning the fruits, halfway.
Remove the peaches and let them cool completely. Discard the syrup.**

Cut the peaches into small pieces.

Build your dessert: For each serving you will need 3 small scoops of vanilla ice cream, 3 small scoops of raspberry sorbet, the equivalent of 1 peach (diced), 3 fresh raspberries and 2 sprinkles of toasted almonds. Alternate the peach and ice creams… top with fresh raspberries and finish with toasted slivered almonds.

Bon appetit!

*Cute raspberry idea: Place the fresh raspberries on a plastic plate in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours. When ready to use, remove from freezer and wait 2 minutes,… they will look “frosty” and pretty! ;) Use them for this dessert or to top any other treat!

**You can use this syrup to make lemonade… add some lemon zest to it and follow the steps in this recipe...