The Old School Peach Dessert You Don't Really See Anymore

Culinary trends, like a lot of things, come in and out of fashion. For every classic kitchen design element that may never go out of style, there are plenty more questionable vintage decor choices that we're happy to leave in the past. Actual foodstuffs ebb and flow, too. Classics, such as yesterday's happy hour cocktail meatballs, frequently experience periods of dormancy before they're popularized once more. Peach Melba has also largely faded from dessert menus, and even home kitchens, for all but the most committed stone fruit devotees.

Peaches and raspberry sauce served over vanilla ice cream has been known as peach Melba since the late 1800s. Similar to the origin of pavlova, this dessert is also named for an artist of its time: Peach Melba was knighted by the erstwhile "King of Chefs" Auguste Escoffier after the Australian soprano Nellie Melba. Escoffier is said to have served the deceptively simple dish to Melba at London's Savoy hotel. Inspired by the set design from her concurrent opera, Escoffier presented the real Melba with his own Melba atop a swan sculpted in ice. The basic elements are still easy enough to recreate at home, with or without the chisel.

One of Escoffier's earliest peach Melba recipes called for the titular fruit to be blanched for only a few seconds before it was ultimately introduced to the other ingredients. Many present day instructions call for poaching instead. That update is marginally more time consuming and has you simmering a couple of pounds of peaches in water with sugar, vanilla beans, and lemon juice and zest for up to 10 minutes before chilling in ice.

The raspberries are also simmered, but separately and with more sugar and lemon juice until they're soft enough to be pulverized through a sieve to remove the seeds. This should also take around 10 minutes. While both of your botanicals can be made as much as a few days in advance, it's a little nicer to serve freshly warmed over the ice cream (which you can make without a machine). Häagen-Dazs, our favorite store-bought vanilla ice cream brand is also exceedingly suitable for your otherwise homemade, throwback peach Melba.