Malva pudding: a traditional South African dessert

Last Updated on February 10, 2024

Click to skip straight to the Malva Pudding recipe

I’m not much of a pudding eater…kind of prefer to save my calorific intake for savoury treats. But I am a huge fan of this traditional South African dessert called Malva Pudding. It’s a pretty youthful dessert, allegedly served for the first time at the restaurant at Boschendal, near Stellenbosch in the late 1970s.

I’ve eaten my share of this spongey, moreish pudding which is really more of a cake. And I’m always trying to tempt non-Southern African friends to try it when I do (somewhat rarely) see it on a menu. Well, it was one of Nelson Mandela’s favourites and I’m not one to disagree with Madiba.

While you’re preparing the delicious mix of ingredients including sugar, cream, butter and apricot jam you can already tell you are going to be creating something delicious. And they’re pretty much all store cupboard staples, too.

First up cream together the butter and sugar until the butter is soft. Beat in the apricot jam and egg. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda into the milk. Then add the flour to the mix, alternating with the milk, a little at a time. Finally, beat in the vinegar.

Pour the batter into an ovenproof bowl tray that has been buttered.

Make the sauce. Place the cream, butter, sugar and apricot jam into the pan. Bring the sauce to the boil over a high heat, stirring continually. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Pour half of the sauce over the batter mix.

Bake the Malva Pudding for 40 minutes at 180C, or until golden brown.

Remove the pudding from the oven and pour over the remaining sauce a bit at a time until it is all nicely absorbed.

Serve Malva Pudding with plenty of warm custard. It’s a truly heavenly combination.

Here’s a printable version of the recipe.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

South African Malva pudding

A rich, baked traditional South African dessert

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: South African

Keyword: pudding

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 799kcal

Author: Sandy Cadiz-Smith

Equipment

• Baking tin

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 375 ml Double cream
• 125 g Butter, cut into squares
• 200 ml Demerara sugar
• 1 tbsp Apricot jam

For the batter

• 100 ml Demerara sugar
• 30 g butter
• 3 tbsp apricot jam
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
• 125 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 250 ml self-raising flour
• 4 tsp white wine vinegar

Instructions

FOR THE SAUCE

• Place the cream, sugar, butter and apricot jam in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat, stirring continually.
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 mins. Remove from heat and keep warm.

FOR THE BATTER

• Mix the butter and sugar together using the back of a spoon until the mix is soft.
• Beat in the apricot jam and the beaten egg.
• Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the milk.
• Add the flour and the milk mix to the batter, mixing well.
• Beat in the vinegar.
• Butter a baking tin and pour the batter into it.
• Pour half of the sauce over the batter.
• Bake in the oven at 180C for 40 mins.
• Remove from the oven and pour over the remaining sauce a little at a time until it is all absorbed.
• Serve hot with custard.

Nutrition

Calories: 799kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 171mg | Sodium: 417mg | Potassium: 144mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 55g | Vitamin A: 1658IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 1mg