White Peach Purée
Ripe white peaches blanched, blended and sieved to velvet. The Bellini was invented around this ingredient rather than the other way about, and yellow peaches will make a perfectly good drink and the wrong one entirely.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Soft, floral stone fruit with gentle acidity: summer at its politest, which is exactly what prosecco wants underneath it.
Storage & Handling
Press cling film to the surface and refrigerate; it browns with air. Use within a day, or freeze in ice-cube trays.
Shelf Life
A day refrigerated; months frozen
Usage
One part purée to two parts prosecco makes a Bellini, and no more engineering than that is required. Beyond it, a spoonful sweetens sours and fizzes anywhere soft stone fruit belongs.
The Drink Was Built Around the Fruit
The Bellini was invented around this ingredient rather than the other way about: Giuseppe Cipriani wanted the pink of a Giovanni Bellini painting in a glass, and only white peaches, crushed and sieved, produce it.
Yellow peaches make a fine drink and the wrong one. They are more acidic, less floral and the wrong colour, so the result is a pleasant peach fizz rather than the drink Cipriani named.
Patience Over Equipment
The method is straightforward and slow: ripe fruit blanched and skinned, blended, then pushed through a fine sieve until it pours like double cream.
Harry’s Bar famously worked without a blender in the early years, crushing by hand, which is the useful point: the sieve matters more than the motor. A blended purée that has not been sieved carries flecks of skin and a grainy texture no amount of prosecco disguises.
Frozen Is the Professional Answer
Good frozen white peach purée is what most serious bars pour outside high summer, and it beats mediocre fresh fruit every time.
That is worth saying plainly, because fresh is assumed to be better by default. Here the season is short and the difference between a ripe white peach and a hard supermarket one is enormous, so the frozen product is the honest choice for most of the year.
It Browns Fast
Cut peach oxidises quickly, and a purée left uncovered turns from pale pink to beige within an hour or two.
A few drops of lemon hold the colour, and pressing cling film directly onto the surface keeps the air off. Use it within a day, or freeze it in ice-cube trays, which is also the neatest way to portion it for single drinks.
Sweeten it only if the fruit demands it. A ripe white peach needs nothing, and a bare spoonful of sugar is a correction for underripe fruit rather than part of the recipe, which is worth being strict about in a two-ingredient drink.
Top Tips
- White peaches, not yellow: paler, more floral and less acidic, they are the Bellini’s specified fruit.
- Sieve after blending: the purée should pour like double cream, with no flecks of skin.
- A few drops of lemon hold the colour; a bare spoonful of sugar is allowed only if the fruit demands it.
Possible Substitutions
- Good frozen white peach purée: the professional standard outside the season
- Peach liqueur, in part: a different, boozier sweetness for emergencies only
Common Questions
White or yellow peaches for a Bellini?
White. They are paler, more floral and less acidic, and they give the colour Cipriani named the drink for. Yellow peaches make a perfectly pleasant peach fizz, and it is a different drink wearing the same name.
How do I make peach purée?
Blanch, skin and stone ripe white peaches, blend them, then sieve until the purée pours like double cream. A few drops of lemon hold the colour. The sieving is the part that matters, since unsieved purée stays grainy.
Is frozen purée acceptable?
It is the professional standard outside peach season, and good frozen white peach purée beats mediocre fresh fruit every time. The season is short and the gap between a ripe white peach and a hard one is enormous.
Should I add sugar to peach purée?
Only if the fruit demands it. A ripe white peach needs nothing at all, and a bare spoonful is a correction for underripe fruit rather than part of the recipe. In a drink with two ingredients there is nowhere for unnecessary sugar to hide.