Michelle Darmody: Love raspberry and peach? Here's how to bake a melba cake with both

Melba was originally the name given to a dessert that was created in The Savoy hotel in London.

Melba is the name given to a pairing of raspberry and peach, a classic.

Peaches are extra sweet and tasty in the summer as they are ripening on trees across Europe and shipped to our shores. They are delicious when combined with the slightly tarter raspberries.

Melba was originally the name given to a dessert that was created in The Savoy hotel in London. It was first served on top of an ice sculpture of a swan. It is quite a simple combination of poached peaches with vanilla ice cream and a raspberry coulis, and was named for the opera singer Nellie Melba, who was singing in London at the time of its invention. The singer’s name was also an invention as she changed it from Porter Mitchell in memory of her birthplace, Melbourne. She toured the world in Victorian times and became very famous.

It was reported that she loved peaches, which were more of a rarity in those days, and this is what inspired the Savoy chef, Auguste Escoffier, to create the dessert.

I tend to use yellow rather than the white variety of peaches which were used in Escoffier’s melba.

Yellow ones have a bit more acidity and hold their shape better as they bake. You can also use yellow nectarines if you have them to hand.

Michelle Darmody's Melba Cake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

This cake layers peaches and raspberries with golden cake batter to make each slice soft and juicy.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 50 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 10 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 300g peaches, de-stoned and sliced

• 20g golden caster sugar

• 120mls light olive oil

• 110g light muscovado sugar

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 180g natural yogurt

• 190g plain flour

• 1 tsp baking powder, sieved

• 1 tsp bread soda, sieved

• 150g fresh raspberries

Method

1. 1. Line a 9-inch round cake tin with parchment.

2. 2. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

3. 3. Toss the peaches on the caster sugar and set aside.

4. 4. Beat the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and yogurt until combined.

5. 5. Sieve the flour, baking powder and bread soda and make a well in the center.

6. 6. Add the oil mixture into the well in the flour and combine them both to form a smooth batter.

7. 7. Pour half of the batter into the tin and sprinkle half of the sugar-coated peaches and half of the raspberries on top.

8. 8. Pour the rest of the batter over these and sprinkle this with the rest of the peaches and raspberries.

9. 9. Bake for 50 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean from the cake batter (rather than the fruit).

10. 10. Allow to cool in the tin, until cool enough to handle, then place onto a wire rack to cool.

Fresh peaches work better than tinned in this recipe as the fresh ones are tarter in flavour and also have a firmer texture.

It is best to cut the slices of peach quite thin; if they are too large, they are more likely to sink as the cake bakes.

Tossing the peaches in the caster sugar is called maceration. It is used to draw out moisture which helps prevent a soggy cake, it also helps to concentrate the peaches flavour. Add the peaches to the batter but leave any juice in your bowl.

It is best to have your natural yogurt at room temperature before adding to the other ingredients. It stops it from seizing up. Cold yogurt can harden and stiffen when mixed with other ingredients. Natural Greek yogurt has a higher fat and protein content than other forms of natural yogurt and this can be good in baking. It’s thick texture also works well in this recipe.

Making a well in the dry ingredients allows you to combine the wet and dry more evenly and slowly and with care to prevent lumps. It also prevents messy overflow from the bowl.

You can sprinkle granulated sugar on top of the cake before placing it into the oven to get a sweet crust on top.

It is best not to open the oven door as the cake bakes. If you do, the fruit is likely to sink to the bottom as the batter will cool and weaken. The batter needs to ‘lock-in’ the fruit as it bakes so that it holds it in place. Opening the door may also lead to underbaking more generally.

The cake can be frozen whole or in slices. I would recommend wrapping it in baking parchment then putting it into a freezer safe container or freezer bag.

A scoop of vanilla ice cream works well with this cake, particularly if you serve the cake warm.

Delicious variations

Cherry cake

I will always choose cherries when stone fruits are in order. They add to all desserts in my opinion.

You can use 400g of fresh cherries destoned (in place of the peaches and raspberries) and sprinkle them as instructed. I love cherry and almond together so I add a few drops of almond extract to the batter and sprinkle slivered almonds on the top before it bakes.

Blackberry and apple cake

Two wonderful end of summer fruits, apples and blackberries. I peel, core and chop two apples so I have about 300g of apple bits.

Layer these up with 150g of blackberries in the same way as described in the recipe above.

I sprinkle one tablespoon of light muscovado over the cake before placing it into the oven to give a crisp golden crust.