Malva Pudding

We were invited to have lunch with some friends earlier this week in their home.  Tina and Tony.   We love spending time with them.   They are a fascinating couple and good people.   They've lived  several places in their lives, including South Africa and Australia and now they live in Wales.  They're retired just like us and just like me, Tina loves to cook.  You can be certain that when you are invited to theirs for a meal, you are in for a real treat, and boy oh boy was lunch the other day a treat!

Dessert was this fabulous pudding which is South African in origin.  Hands down the most delicious pudding I have ever eaten.  I just had to ask for the recipe and one of the nice things about Tina is she doesn't mind sharing, which is great!

This dessert was soooooooo delicious that I ended up making it for the Missionary Elders when they came to us for tea on Thursday evening and it went down a real treat then too!

It's like a dense, sticky rich cake.  You make a batter first, which you bake in a casserole dish in a slow oven for about 45 minutes, covered with foil.

While it is baking, you make a rich buttery sauce with cream, which you then pour over the baked batter as soon as you take it out of the oven.

The sauce soaks into the batter adding to it's moistness . . .  rich, sticky . . .  scrumptiously delicious.  Almost dangerous.

Tina served hers with warm custard, but I served it with pouring cream . . .  mostly because I ran out of time and didn't have time to make custard . . .

There were no complaints.  'Nuff said.

*Malva Pudding*

Serves 6

Printable Recipe 

This is an incredibly delicious and rich pudding.   I got the recipe from my friend Tina. It's simple and easy to make and you probably have everything you need in the house to make this right now!  It's a South African recipe. 

190g of caster sugar (1 cup)

1 large free range egg

1 TBS smooth apricot jam

140g of plain flour (1 cup)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

pinch of salt

1 TBS butter, melted

1 tsp vinegar (I used cider)

225ml of milk (1 cup) 

For the sauce:

225ml cream (1 cup)

6 ounces butter (3/4 cup)

190g of caster sugar (1 cup)

115ml of hot water (1/2 cup)

To serve:

pouring cream, warm custard or ice cream.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.   Butter a shallow 1 litre/1 quart baking dish.  Set aside.

Beat the egg and sugar together until light.   Beat in the jam.  Sift together the flour, soda and salt.   Whisk together the milk, vinegar and butter.   Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternately with the milk mixture.  Mix until smooth.  Pour into the prepared baking dish.  Cover with tin foil.  Bake for 3/4 to 1 hour, until risen and golden brown.  It will look sticky on top.

While the cake is baking mix together the sauce ingredients and heat gently until the sugar has melted completely and the butter as well.  Keep warm.

Remove the cake from the oven and pour the sauce mixture over top, allowing it to absorbe as you pour it.   Serve warm or at room temperature with custard, pouring cream or ice cream.