Peach Melba Muffins

Peach Melba is the dessert escoffier created for opera singer Nellie Melba in 1893: peaches, raspberries, and ice cream. This muffin version captures the fruit pairing without the ice cream, and the result is a summer brunch standout.

Layering the fruit between two pours of batter instead of folding it in is the key technique here. Folding berries through batter crushes them and turns the muffin pink. Layering keeps the fruit visible, lets the peaches stay sweet and chunky, and makes the raspberries burst into pockets.

The crumb topping is what pushes these from breakfast into proper bakery territory. Cold butter cut into flour and sugar makes craggy clusters that turn golden and crisp under the oven heat.

Do not overmix the batter. A few streaks of flour are fine and even preferred. Overworked muffin batter develops gluten and gives a tough, peaked crumb instead of a tender, mounded one.

Kitchen Tips

• Use fresh or frozen peaches and raspberries. Canned peaches are too soft and watery.
• Toss the fruit in a tablespoon of flour before layering to prevent sinking and bleeding.
• Fill the cups to the top. These muffins do not rise as much because the fruit weighs them down.
• Let cool 5 minutes in the pan before lifting out. Hot, the bottoms tear.

Variations

• Add a half teaspoon of almond extract to the batter for the classic Melba flavor pairing.
• Drizzle with a thin powdered sugar glaze once cool.
• Substitute apricots and blackberries for a different stone fruit and berry pairing.