A quick blanch in boiling water, followed by an ice bath, is all it takes to make peach skins easy to remove.
When I was a pastry cook, I was tasked with peeling crates and crates of peaches during the height of summer. The fruit went into all kinds of desserts, including ice cream and sorbet, crisps, cobblers, and, my all-time favorite, peach Melba. Sure, you could leave the skins on—but fishing out loose skins from your dessert can be unpleasant, and our pastry chef wanted to spare guests that experience. So, my colleagues and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
Now, you could painstakingly remove the skins from peaches with a peeler. But I quickly learned that the fastest and easiest way to peel a peach doesn’t require a peeler: A quick blanch in boiling water, followed by a dip in an ice bath, is all you need to slip the skin off peaches easily. This method works exceptionally well for ripe peaches, which are often too tender and juicy to peel using a peeler.
Here’s how to do it:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Set up an ice bath in a large bowl by filling it halfway with ice and cold water. Set aside.
- Using a sharp paring knife, score a small X at the base of each peach. Using a slotted spoon or spider skimmer, lower the peaches into boiling water and cook until the scored skin at the base of each peach begins to loosen and peel back, about 1 minute. (Firmer peaches may need up to 3 minutes.)
- Using a slotted spoon or spider, transfer peaches to the ice bath and let stand until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes.
- Working with one peach at a time, start at the scored X on the base of each peach and use a paring knife or your fingers to peel back and remove the loosened skin from each peach. Discard or compost the skins and repeat with the remaining peaches.
Though I no longer cook in restaurants, I still peel peaches this way—especially if I need a lot of fruit for a dessert. It’s still the fastest and easiest method I’ve found, and it makes my summer baking projects so much more pleasurable—and pretty.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
