Peach Melba at the Savoy Hotel, London ,and Peach Melba Day Jan 13th.

Peach Melba or Pêche Melba is an ice cream sundae with raspberry sauce and peaches. Jan 13th is Peach Melba Day (unsure why, since peaches are out of season in January). It is also 'Make Your Dreams Come True Day' which I guess is the same as Peach Melba Day. Additionally it is Rubber Duckie Day.

A SHORT HISTORY OF PÊCHE MELBA

Peach Melba or in its original French title of Pêche Melba, was created in the Summer of 1892 by the great French chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel, in London.

It was created to honor Nellie Melba, the Australian soprano, who was performing the Wagner opera Lohengrin in Covent Garden. The Duke of Orléans was so taken by Nellie Melba's performance that he threw a party for her, at the Savoy.

Peach Melba combines both peaches and raspberries with vanilla ice cream. Chef Escoffier poached the peach and topped it with ice cream and raspberry purée.

The original Pêche Melba was a bit more elaborate. At the dinner party hosted by the Duke of Orléans at the Savoy, Chef Escoffier displayed the dessert in a swan ice sculpture. In the opera, the knight Lohengrin arrives and departs in a boat pulled by swans. Here, the ice swan held a bed of vanilla ice cream topped with peaches and spun sugar........ Wow !

The dessert was the talk of the town—However, In 1900, at the opening of the Carlton Hotel in London, Auguste Escoffier created an easier version of the dessert. Minus the ice swan and topped the peaches with raspberry purée. Still delicious, Pêche Melba became a classic dessert.

Dame Nellie Melba GBE (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931) was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from Melbourne, her home town.On the day, the dish was served to the table in an ice sculpture of a swan and covered over with spun sugar. Once at the Carlton hotel, Escoffier simplified pêches Melba by getting rid of the obviously awkward swan and swapping the sugar out for raspberry purée. When Escoffier came to compile his Le Guide Culinaire, it was the Carlton version he wrote down (thank God).

As a side note ~ When Nellie Melba’s infamous dessert was first created, she was very slim, and the story goes that Escoffier later produced a low-calorie version for the singer, who had gained weight with age. This was how Melba toast came into being.

After much research it can be safely said that the peaches are blanched, peeled, and halved, then poached in vanilla syrup ( half water, half sugar, + vanilla).

So without further adieu:~ 

1. 2 ripe peaches
2. teaspoons vanilla extract
3. 650 ml caster sugar
4. 2 teaspoons icing sugar
5. 300g raspberries
6. 6 balls of ice cream
7. almond

• Blanch peaches for 30 seconds. Drop into ice water, then carefully peel skins. Cut peaches, and remove stones.
• Mix sugar in the same volume of water and heat to dissolve. Add vanilla, simmer and poach for 10 minutes. Put peaches in a bowl and ladle over some of the syrup, allow to cool
• Put some vanilla ice cream in a dish and place peach halves on top, top with the raspberry purée and sprinkle with almonds.