Mary Berry Peach Melba Recipe

Peach Melba is one of those classic desserts that sounds far more complicated than it actually is. Ripe peaches, vanilla ice cream, and a vibrant, fresh raspberry sauce that’s genuinely all it takes. Mary Berry’s version keeps everything beautifully simple, and I’ve served it at summer dinner parties more times than I can count. Every single time, it gets a round of quiet, appreciative “oh wow” noises from around the table.

What Is Mary Berry’s Peach Melba?

Mary Berry’s Peach Melba is a classic British summer dessert featuring lightly poached peaches served over good-quality vanilla ice cream and finished with a fresh, glossy raspberry coulis. It was created by the legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier in the 1890s for Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, which makes it one of the most elegantly named desserts in existence. Mary Berry’s interpretation honours that simplicity while making it completely achievable for any home cook.

No fancy equipment, no complicated techniques. Just brilliant ingredients treated with a little care.

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the Poached Peaches

• 4 ripe peaches, freestone varieties work best as they separate from the stone cleanly
• 500ml (2 cups) water
• 200g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

For the Raspberry Coulis

• 300g (10oz) fresh raspberries
• 2–3 tbsp icing sugar, sifted, adjust to taste
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

To Serve

• Good quality vanilla ice cream, this isn’t the place to cut corners. A proper vanilla with visible seeds makes a real difference.

FYI, if you can find white peaches, use them. They’re softer, sweeter, and more fragrant than yellow peaches, and they’re the variety Escoffier originally used. Yellow peaches work perfectly well, but white peaches take this dessert to another level when they’re in season.

How to Make Mary Berry’s Peach Melba

Step 1: Make the Poaching Syrup

Combine the water, caster sugar, vanilla pod (or extract), and lemon zest and juice in a wide, shallow saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely, then bring to a gentle simmer. Don’t let it boil rapidly; a gentle simmer is all you need to create a beautifully fragrant poaching syrup that infuses the peaches without breaking them down.

Step 2: Poach the Peaches

Score a small cross in the base of each peach with a sharp knife. Lower the peaches carefully into the simmering syrup and poach for 8–12 minutes, turning them gently halfway through. The timing depends entirely on how ripe your peaches are; a very ripe peach might only need 6 minutes, while a firmer one could take up to 15.

Test for doneness by inserting a sharp knife into the thickest part. It should slide in with almost no resistance. Transfer the poached peaches to a bowl and leave to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, peel away the skins; they’ll slip off effortlessly after poaching. Slice in half and remove the stone.

If you want to serve them warm, keep the peaches in the syrup off the heat until ready. If you prefer them chilled, and on a hot summer’s day, chilled is genuinely the better call; refrigerate the peaches in their syrup for up to 24 hours.

Step 3: Make the Raspberry Coulis

The raspberry coulis takes about five minutes and is completely foolproof. Push the fresh raspberries through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl using the back of a spoon, pressing firmly to extract as much juice and pulp as possible. Discard the seeds left in the sieve. Stir in the sifted icing sugar and lemon juice, then taste and adjust the sweetness as needed.

The coulis should be bright, intensely fruity, and pourable, not too thick, not watery. IMO, the lemon juice is non-negotiable here; it sharpens the raspberry flavour dramatically and stops the coulis tasting flat.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. The coulis keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Step 4: Assemble and Serve

Assembly is the best part, and mercifully the easiest. Place one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream into each serving bowl or glass. Arrange the poached peach halves alongside or on top of the ice cream. Pour the raspberry coulis generously over everything, letting it pool at the base and streak across the ice cream.

Serve immediately. The contrast of ice cream, warm or chilled peaches, and that vivid raspberry sauce hitting the bowl all at once; it’s a genuinely beautiful thing.

Tips for the Best Peach Melba

• Ripe peaches are everything. An underripe peach is starchy, bland, and no amount of poaching syrup will fully rescue it. Squeeze gently; it should give slightly, like a ripe avocado.
• Don’t skip the sieving step for the coulis. Raspberry seeds are genuinely unpleasant in a smooth sauce. Take the extra five minutes and push every drop through the sieve.
• Chill everything ahead of time. For dinner parties, poach the peaches and make the coulis the day before. All you need to do at serving time is scoop the ice cream and assemble. Stress-free hosting at its finest.
• Presentation matters here. Peach Melba is a visually stunning dessert; that deep crimson coulis against the pale peach and white ice cream is gorgeous. Use clear glass bowls or sundae glasses if you have them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use tinned peaches instead of fresh? You can, though fresh peaches give a far superior flavour and texture. If using tinned, drain them well and skip the poaching step entirely. The dessert still tastes lovely, just a little less special.

Can I make the raspberry coulis with frozen raspberries? Absolutely. Frozen raspberries work brilliantly for coulis, defrost them first and drain off any excess liquid before sieving. The flavour is virtually identical to fresh.

How far ahead can I prepare Peach Melba? Poach the peaches and make the coulis up to 24 hours in advance, store them separately in the fridge, and assemble just before serving. Never assemble ahead of time; the ice cream melts, and the whole thing becomes a gorgeous but structurally compromised puddle.

Final Thoughts

Mary Berry’s Peach Melba is the kind of dessert that proves you don’t need elaborate technique or a long ingredient list to create something genuinely impressive. Ripe peaches, a fragrant vanilla poaching syrup, silky raspberry coulis, and proper ice cream, when each component is done well, the whole thing is greater than the sum of its parts.

Make it this summer while peaches are at their peak. It’s the kind of dessert that makes people put their spoons down for a moment, just to appreciate it. That’s always a good sign.