Foodie Friday - Peach Melba

Peach Melba was invented in the late 1800's to honour the Australian opera singer, Nellie Melba. It was invented in London at the Savoy.

It was a dessert made of peaches, vanilla icecream and raspberry sauce.

This recipe claims to be traditional but seems a bit complicated to me.

Ingredients

• 6 ripe peaches (peeled and pitted)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (granulated)
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• For the Sauce:
• 1 12-oz. package raspberries (frozen unsweetened, thawed in a bowl)
• 1/3 cup sugar (granulated)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 container of vanilla ice cream
• Sundae cups or ice cream dishes (chilled in the freezer)

Steps to Make It

1.    Using a deep, wide skillet, heat 1 1/4 cups sugar and 2 cups water to boiling.

2.    After sugar dissolves, add peaches in a single layer. Reduce heat to just under simmering and poach, covered, for 5 minutes.

3.    Using tongs or a slotted spoon, gently turn all the peaches over, cover, and continue poaching for 3 minutes.

4.    Remove skillet from heat and allow peaches to sit in hot syrup for an additional 4 minutes.

5.    Stir in vanilla extract. Chill peaches in syrup for at least one hour.

Steps to Make the Sauce

1.    Push raspberries and juice from thawing, through a fine-mesh sieve, and then discard seeds and solids; set aside. Bring 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and zest. Stir simple syrup (sugar mixture) into a seedless raspberry puree and chill for 30 minutes.

2.    Layer peaches and raspberries over ice cream in frosted dishes and serve.