Peach Melba Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Poached
Peaches:
2 cups water
1 ½ - 2 cups sugar (depending on how sweet you prefer it)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract Half a cinnamon stick 3 whole cloves
3 peaches
For the Raspberry
Sauce:
6 oz. fresh raspberries
¼ cup sugar Splash of Chambord
To Assemble the Peach
Melba:
Vanilla ice cream, as needed
Poached peaches
Raspberry sauce
Mint leaves for garnish
How To Prepare:
For the Poached
Peaches:
Combine all of the ingredients except the peaches in a saucepan.
Bring to a gentle simmer, whisking as needed to melt the sugar.
Cut
the peaches in half vertically, working you knife around the pit in the center.
Then you must remove the pit. If the peaches are hard and unripe this can be
tricky. After cutting them, you may need to grab each side and twist hard to
separate the halves. I then take a small narrow knife and cut around the pit as
much as possible. Then with a teaspoon, or ideally a grapefruit spoon, I gently
pry out the pit without breaking the peach flesh. Of course you can escape all
this drama by employing ripe peaches.
Add
the peach halves to the poaching liquid. Place a small plate or the lid from a
small pot on top of them to keep them submerged. Poach them until tender. The
time will vary on the ripeness of the peaches. Unripe peaches will take about
ten minutes, give or take. Riper peaches will take less. Periodically check for
doneness by inserting a small knife or fork into them.
Remove
the peaches and chill them or simply leave them in the syrup in the fridge to
cool. The syrup can be used for other fruit, ice cream, pancakes, etc. You can
simmer it further, sans peaches, to increase its thickness.
For the Raspberry
Sauce:
Rinse the raspberries and whiz them in a food processor until
pureed. Scrape them out into a small saucepan. Whisk in the sugar. Bring to a
simmer and cook for five minutes, a little longer for a thicker sauce.
Finish by whisking in a splash of Chambord and simmering
briefly. (Chambord is a delicious raspberry liqueur from France). Work the
sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove the seeds.
Give
it a final stir and cool.
To Assemble the Peach
Melba:
Add some vanilla ice cream to a bowl. Place one or two peach
halves on top. Drizzle with some of the raspberry sauce. Top with a mint leaf
for garnish.
