Malva Pudding

t’s absolutely freezing in Johannesburg! After a few weeks of gorgeous weather, unpacking my shorts and skirts – this kind of feels like the twilight zone! Don’t worry I won’t speak about the weather, but it kind of does have a lot to do with this recipe of sweet and sticky Malva Pudding.

For those of you born and raised in beautiful South Africa, you will know of what mouthwatering pudding I am talking about.  For my foreign readers – let me explain…

Malva Pudding is a true South African pudding dish, with a sweet sponge and a decadent caramelized sticky sauce; it’s normally served with hot custard or ice cream.  This pudding originated from the old Cape Dutch ladies, cooking up a storm for the officers and captains of Jan van Riebeeck.  With over 160 000 results in Google – this pudding is a South African legend – and can be found in nearly ALL South African cookbooks from the olden days.  Up to speed? Great!

Ok, enough history for one day. Let’s get to the good part.  This Malva Pudding recipe is an age old version of the ever so popular ones that you can find literally anywhere online or in a cookbook.  There are many Malva Pudding recipes that have been adapted throughout the years, adding more ingredients and tricks to the trade.

However this recipe is the one your great gran probably passed over to your mother, and now it is part of a whole library of recipes from the family history.  This one is not from my mother though, but from the brilliant woman I call my mother-in-law.  I mentioned before that she has been a connoisseur at baking from a very young age.  In those days, when she was a young teen, movies with friends and shopping for cute lip gloss were taboo! Instead, girls learned from an early age how to cook, clean and literally care for your family… and I mean properly!

So back to the weather, yeah, you get the picture, right?

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Butter a medium sized oven dish – that would feed about 10 adults.

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Malva Pudding

A true South African pudding dish, with a sweet sponge and a decadent caramelized sticky sauce; normally served with hot custard or ice cream.

Votes: 70
Rating: 3.79
You:

Rate this recipe!

Course

dessert

Cuisine

South African

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

35 min

Servings

people MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

For the Pudding

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons smooth apricot jam
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 3/4 cups milk

For the Sauce

• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 10 ml vanilla essence
• 2 tin (380 gr) evaporated milk

Course dessert Cuisine South African Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 35 min Servings people MetricUS Imperial Ingredients For the Pudding 1 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 cup brown sugar pinch salt 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon baking soda 3 tablespoons smooth apricot jam 2 tablespoons melted butter 3/4 cups milk For the Sauce 2 cups boiling water 2 cups brown sugar 10 ml vanilla essence 2 tin (380 gr) evaporated milk

Votes: 70 Rating: 3.79 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

For the Pudding

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder, brown sugar and salt into a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add the eggs, baking soda, jam, butter and milk.
3. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are incorporated. Transfer batter into a baking dish.
4. Bake for 35 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. The pudding will be baked brown and when tested, the knife will come out clear.

For the Sauce

1. While the pudding is in the oven, prepare the sauce by combining the water, sugar, vanilla and evaporated milk in a microwavable bowl.
2. Microwave these ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Pour the hot sauce over the pudding little by little. You will see that the sponge will just suck up that sauce, so keep on adding a little sauce at a time.
4. This can take several minutes for the sponge to absorb all the sauce; it helps if you poke a few holes in the pudding with a knife to ensure more sauce is being absorbed in all the good places.
5. Serve hot with custard or vanilla ice cream.

Recipe Notes

If you prefer a less drenchy pudding, I recommend you halve the sauce ingredients. You will still enjoy a sticky and sweet pudding, just more firm.

 

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