Peach Melba Cake is a riff on the famous dessert. Classic Peach Melba is made with peaches, raspberries and vanilla ice cream.

My Peach Melba cake is made with vanilla sponge cake layered with fresh peaches, raspberries and creamy vanilla mousse. It’s a showstopping layer cake!

If you’re looking for a centerpiece for a special occasion, you’ve come to the right place.

Right off the bat I’ll admit that this is not a “super quick and easy” recipe. None of the components are difficult to make, but it is a bit of a project that is best accomplished over a couple of days.

I wanted to create a special layer cake that had the wonderful flavors of the classic Peach Melba dessert. I love how the vanilla ice cream in the original recipe enhances, but doesn’t outshine, the fresh peaches and raspberry sauce.

I carefully chose the elements of this Peach Melba Cake – the sponge cake, the peach syrup, the vanilla mousse and the Italian Meringue Buttercream – to let the fresh fruit shine.

The peaches and raspberries are the star of the show, as they should be.

How to make the best Peach Melba Cake ever!

• Use light and airy vanilla genoise layers to build the cake. A rich buttery cake with heavy buttercream filling could overwhelm the peaches and raspberries.
• Macerate the peaches with sugar to draw out the juices. Macerating the peaches also prevents the peach slices from becoming mushy so you get distinct pieces of fruit in each cake slice.
• Use the peach juice to make a delicious syrup.
• Douse the sponge cake with lots of rum-spiked peach syrup to amp up the peach flavor and to keep the cake super moist. Remember, alcohol enhances flavor. You can omit the rum to make an alcohol-free cake.
• Use vanilla mousse filling to echo the vanilla ice cream from the classic dessert. The light and airy mousse is a perfect partner for sponge cake and fresh fruit.
• Pipe a buttercream “dam” around each layer to keep the soft filling and fruit from leaking out of the cake.
• Chill the assembled cake for at least 3-4 hours or overnight before serving.
• I smooth iced the cake and piped a border for a “fancy” looking cake. You can do a swirly coating of icing for a more casual look.
• Decorate the cake with peach slices and raspberries.

A timeline for making Peach Melba Cake:

• The genoise can be baked, wrapped and stored at room temperature up to 2 days before assembling the Peach Melba cake, or frozen for up to 3 months.
• The Italian Meringue Buttercream can be made ahead and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen for 3 months. If refrigerated or frozen, bring the buttercream back to room temperature and re-whip before using.
• Assemble the cake the day before serving and allow it to chill for at least an hour before icing the cake. (watch this video to see How To Ice A Cake.)
• Chill the cake overnight (or at least 3-4 hours). This gives the layers time to firm up. As the cake chills the fruit will adhere to the cake, keeping everything together when the cake is sliced. If you try to slice the cake right after assembling, the layers will slide apart.
• 1 hour before serving take the cake out of the refrigerator to give the buttercream time to soften a little bit.
• Leftovers will keep for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.

I highly recommend serving this cake with a glass of sparkling wine for a festive treat.

Watch the recipe video to see how to create a Peach Melba Cake.

Here are more recipes featuring fresh peaches:

• Peach Crumb Pie
• Peach Dumplings
• Pork Tacos with Peach Salsa
• Peach Upside Down Cake
• Fried Peach Hand Pies
• Roasted Peach Ice Cream
• Peach & Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.