Peach Melba Dessert

Peach Melba was invented by Auguste Escoffier in 1893 at the Savoy Hotel in London to honor opera singer Nellie Melba, and the original was a sculpture of poached peaches and raspberry coulis crowned on a swan-shaped ice carving. This is the home-cook version: tender peaches and bright raspberries simmered with just enough sugar to draw out their juices into a glossy ruby compote.

Serve it warm over vanilla ice cream and watch the cold cream and warm fruit play off each other. The hot syrup melts the ice cream into pools of vanilla cream that mix with the raspberry-stained peach syrup. It’s the classic dessert sauce pattern that nothing has ever improved upon.

Three ingredients plus water. Twenty minutes. The most elegant dessert payoff for the least effort in your kitchen.

Pro Tips

• Use ripe but firm peaches. Mushy peaches turn to total mush in the simmer; rock-hard ones never soften enough.
• Frozen raspberries work just as well as fresh and are often cheaper. They break down faster and give the syrup its signature ruby color.
• Don’t oversimmer. Five minutes is right per the directions. Beyond that, the peaches turn to jam and lose their shape.
• Strain through a fine mesh sieve if you want a smooth coulis instead of a chunky compote. Both are correct.

Variations

• Splash in a tablespoon of Chambord, Grand Marnier, or Cognac at the end for a grown-up note.
• Add a vanilla bean or a strip of lemon zest to the simmer for more aromatic depth.
• Serve over pound cake, Greek yogurt, or panna cotta instead of ice cream.