"Everything's Just Peachy" Melba
Created Date:
Peach Melba is a classic French dessert of peaches and raspberry sauce over top vanilla ice cream. The dessert was created in 1892 or 1893 by Chef Auguste Escoffier for Australian soprano Nellie Melba. The original version of the dessert consisted of vanilla ice cream, peaches and spun sugar and was called Pecheau Cygna or "peach with a swan" as it was first served to Melba atop a swan ice sculpture. Years later, Escoffier added sweetened raspberry purée to the recipe and renamed it Peach Melba. For more of the history of Peach Melba, read the "Opera, Escoffier, and Peaches: The Story Behind the Peach Melba" at http://to.pbs.org/NmdTQ6
- 1 12 oz. bottle of apple juice
- 1 15 oz. can of halved or sliced peaches in juice (not syrup)
- 1 18 oz. jar of raspberry jam or preserves (seedless is preferable)
- 1 packet of vanilla freeze-dried ice cream
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds for garnish
- 5 granulated sugar packets (optional)
- Combine about 1/3 (6 oz.) of the jar of raspberry preserves with about a 1/4 (3 oz.) of the bottle of apple juice in a pan. Reduce over medium heat until the liquid covers the back of a spoon.
- Drain the juice from the peaches using your Emergency Kit Cook-Off can strainer (if you have one). Keep the juice to drink later.
- Coat the peaches with granulated sugar and brûlée with a blow torch (optional).
- Crumble the freeze-dried ice cream into the bottom of a bowl or dish.
- Layer the peaches over the ice cream, spooning the raspberry sauce over top the peaches.Garnish with slivered almonds
I attempted to brûlée the peaches with a blow torch, but was unsuccessful because the canned peaches were damp/wet and thus dissolved the sugar. I tried drying the peaches, but still the effect was not ideal.
