You’re not a South African if you haven’t tasted malva pudding. It’s not a statement, it’s a fact. Whether it was a good or bad pudding, in your X amount of years of being on this planet, you have spooned some in your mouth. What I really want to know is what drives people mad about it? Don’t get me wrong, I am not hating on it, in fact I absolutely love it, but what sets it apart from every other dessert on this planet?

Part 1: the “cake” part.

What sets this apart from it being a typical cake is that apricot jam and vinegar are added to the mix which *shocker* don’t come out in the final flavour profile. Get this, the vinegar assists the bicarbonate of soda as a rising agent and as far as I know, the apricot jam adds a dimension of flavour that sets it apart from tres leche, sticky toffee pudding and tipsy tarts. Do me a favour and don’t Google alternatives to the above, just use them as is.

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Part 2: The sauce.

Malva pudding has a distinct texture. It’s not creamy, not sticky, not dense, not thick, not fluffy, I can go on and on but you know exactly what I mean. Part of having this indescribable texture comes from the sauce. After you render it down, it’s not a thick custard but more like thickened cream. My mother in law makes probably the most perfect malva pudding on this planet and one of her techniques is that you always half the amount of sugar in the sauce. Whatever recipe you use, malva pudding has A LOT of sugar and does become overwhelming, especially if you’re like me and will probably eat triple the amount you’re supposed to.

Part 3: The friend.

While malva pudding is able to be eaten alone, having a friend with it just accentuates the flavour even more. The most popular choices are: Custard, ice cream or whipped cream. Personally, I love custard. I don’t know why. I feel like custard was made for malva pudding, not jelly and custard, or custard tarts, malva pudding and custard… warm custard on top of that.

Part 4: How you make it

Another technique that my mother in law shared was how she poured the sauce into the cake part. I will try describe it as accurately as I can. I can’t exactly remember if she poked holes in it, I always do. The sauce was poured in different stages. It’s done really slowly to allow for the cake to absorb enough. Don’t rush it. I’ve had times when the sauce was too much and if I had just poured it in, it would’ve been just a soggy mess. When the sauce slowly seeps in, that’s an indication that you can start pouring more. Still, until this day I have not made one as great as hers however I will carry on trying.

Part 5: Notes for experimentations

I want to see if sugar alternatives will give the same outcome. My family is pretty much off sugar: we use honey in small amount and erythritol for everything else. I just really wanted the perfect malva pudding so I didn’t have time to get it wrong.

Part 6: The recipe

“Cake”

• ¾ cup of full cream milk
• 3 tablespoons of apricot jam
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon of basic white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of butter, melted- I used unsalted you can use whatever you find
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1½ cups of cake wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• a pinch of salt

“Sauce”

• ½ cup of full cream milk
• ½ cup of thick/heavy cream
• ¼  cup of brown sugar- don’t half this one, already halved
• ½ cup of butter- Again I used unsalted
• ¼ teaspoon of salt

Part 7: Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. I know there are different types of ovens and the fan/convection ones tend to be more hotter so just look out for that.
• Grease a square baking dish. The one I used was about 20cm by 20cm.
• Wet ingredients: Whisk the milk, eggs, apricot jam, brown sugar, melted butter, and vinegar until fully combined.
• Dry ingredients: Use a different bowl for this: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and then combine with the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined.
• Pour into the baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. Don’t forget the toothpick test. Jab your cake with a toothpick. If it comes our dry, it is ready.
• While the cake is in the oven, you should start the sauce. In a pan over medium heat combine the cream, milk, butter, sugar, and salt and heat until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. To do that you just have to keep on stirring slowly.
• Once the pudding is done, poke holes all over the hot pudding with a toothpick and then pour the warm sauce over the pudding using the above technique.
• Let is rest for about 30 minutes before serving with CUSTARD. just kidding, use whichever friend you want!

Let me know how it goes please. I love hearing your feedback!