Malva Pudding is a delicious South African baked dessert. It’s best described as a caramelized pudding cake flavored with apricot jam and doused in a melted butter cream sauce as soon as it comes out of the oven.
I have tried many malva puddings but my favorite version is this recipe, which was given to me by my Great Aunty Val. Aunty Val is now 90 years old and she is my recipe reservoir for traditional South African desserts.
This is the perfect recipe to make for special occasions or if you are a South African living abroad and need a taste from home.
If you’d like to try out more South African recipes, then have a look at this recipe for Milktart, this Apricot Bread Pudding, or this Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart.
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Ingredients
To make this delicious South African dessert, you will need the simple ingredients listed below. Remember to always use fresh room temperature ingredients when baking.
- Granulated white sugar
- Self-raising flour
- Milk
- Apricot jam
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- White vinegar
- Extra-large whole eggs
- Unsalted butter
- Ideal milk
Self-raising flour – this recipe can also be made with cake flour or all-purpose flour sifted with baking powder. Check the instructions on your baking powder to decide how much needs to be added.
Apricot jam – this is used in the cake batter, I normally choose a smooth apricot jam but a chunky one will also work.
Extra-large eggs – the eggs I use weigh 56 grams out of their shell, if you are not sure about the eggs you have to weigh them and adjust accordingly.
Vinegar – choose a white spirit or white wine vinegar for this recipe.
Ideal milk – this is a full-fat evaporated milk. To make this recipe’s version of the butter and cream sauce, this recipe uses ideal milk instead of heavy cream. It gives the sauce a wonderfully rich flavour and it also means you don’t have to worry about having fresh cream in your fridge.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
To make this South African malva pudding recipe, follow the simple steps below. First, you will be making the cake batter and then baking the pudding before making the sauce and pouring this over the cake once it is baked.
Instructions for pudding
STEP 1: Preheat oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and brush an oven-proof dish with melted butter.
STEP 2: Beat eggs and sugar. Add the eggs and the sugar to a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat at medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and airy.
STEP 3: Add jam, vinegar, salt, and vanilla. Add the apricot jam, vanilla, salt, and vinegar to the egg and sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
STEP 4: Add dry ingredients. Sift together the flour and salt and slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture with the mixer running at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that there are no lumps and mix again.
STEP 5: Add milk and bicarb. Combine milk and the bicarbonate of soda in a jug. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the batter with the mixer running. Mix until the batter is smooth and lump-free.
STEP 6: Bake. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish and bake in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean, and the pudding is golden brown.
Instructions for sauce
STEP 1: Heat all ingredients. Add the water, sugar, evaporated milk, and butter to a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Allow the sugar and butter to melt, stirring occasionally.
STEP 2: Pour over pudding. Once the butter and sugar have melted, pour half of the hot sauce slowly over the hot pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven. Allow the sauce to seep into the pudding before pouring over the rest of the sauce.
STEP 3: Serve. Choose to serve this pudding warm with custard or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Hint: The success of this malva pudding cake lies in the sauce! So, when pouring this over the just-baked pudding do so slowly so that the sauce has a chance to seep into the pudding. And if you want in on the secret, this pudding is even better the next day!
Variations
Turn this into an adult-only malva pudding by adding ½ cup of Tia Maria to the pouring sauce, I have decided to omit this for this version. However, you are more than welcome to turn this into a boozy malva pudding, why not?
I've topped my malva with mini meringues and homemade honeycomb. You can leave yours as is or top it with anything you might have in your pantry!
Equipment
To make this moist pudding, you will need an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. There isn’t a lot of beating involved in this recipe so you can choose to make this with a standard whisk and large bowl if you’d prefer.
This is a simple baked dessert recipe that can be baked as a large pudding or in individual ramekins or dariole molds. The recipe and the bake time shared in this blog post are for a large pudding baked in an oven dish.
If you would prefer to bake individual malva puddings you most certainly can! Set the oven timer for 15 to 20 minutes and start checking the malva pudding at this stage. Ensuring that the mini-baked dessert is cooked through before removing it from the oven.
It is important to remember that the time needed to bake these puddings will depend on the size of your chosen molds. Namely, how deep and wide they are, so bear this in mind if you will be baking mini malva puddings.
Lastly, if you do choose to bake this recipe as mini malva puddings. Add the cream and butter sauce to the mini pudding when it is still in the mold. This is so that the puddings can soak up the sauce before you remove and plate this traditional South African baked dessert.
Storage
Store any leftover malva pudding in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Before serving choose to reheat the dessert in the microwave or oven until hot.
This malva pudding freezes well. Do this by portioning the malva and placing the slices into a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 2 months and bring to room temperature before heating and serving.
Top tips
For the best results, these are my top tips for making the perfect malva pudding
- Always check the true temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer.
- Try to loosen the jam before adding it to the egg mixture to ensure that it mixes well into the batter.
- Make sure you butter your baking dish properly. For a delicious-tasting malva, I recommend using butter to coat your oven dish rather than cook-and-spray or oil.
- When pouring the sauce, do this very slowly. You want the sauce to be able to seep into the warm malva pudding so that the entire cake is moist, not just the bottom where the sauce settles.
FAQ
Yes, this recipe can be baked as mini desserts, you will just need to adjust the baking time based on the size of your molds.
My favorite way to serve malva is hot with cold ultra-mel custard, this pairing cannot be beaten!
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
The best way to describe this traditional South African dessert is to compare it to a sticky toffee pudding. It is similar in that this pudding is also baked in an oven dish and covered in a sticky sauce after it is cooked. However, it is less sweet than a sticky toffee pudding and the added apricot jam and bicarbonate of soda give this dessert a distinct taste.
Like other baked desserts, malva pudding is drenched in a buttery sauce as it comes out of the oven. The warm cake soaks up this sauce and this is what makes this baked dessert deliciously moist. Regardless of this though, malva pudding is almost always served with ice cream or custard. Or if you are feeling very adventurous, both!
This recipe is loved by South Africans, and if you give this delicious dessert a try, please leave a comment and star review below I would love to know what you thought of this recipe! This might be the first time you've made this recipe, but I promise it won't be the last - because I believe this is the best malva pudding recipe!
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Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
Malva Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp apricot jam
- 2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 eggs
Butter Sauce
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 tin ideal milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter an oven-proof dish.
- Add the eggs and the sugar to a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat at medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and airy.
- Add the apricot jam, vanilla, salt, and vinegar to the egg and sugar mixture and beat well.
- Sift the flour and slowly add this to the egg mixture with the mixer running at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that there are no lumps.
- Mix the milk and the bicarbonate of soda together in a jug. Slowly pour this into the batter with the mixer running. Mix until the batter is smooth and lump-free.
- Pour the batter into a prepared dish and bake in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean, and the pudding is golden brown.
- To make the sauce, combine the water, sugar, ideal milk, and butter in a pan set over medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt and pour this slowly over the pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven. Enjoy!
Julia says
I tried this malva recipe and loved it! Thank you so much!
Alex says
I made this for my husband and served it with custard! He loved it!
Ana says
Decadent, delicious, yummy ... Definitely not enough adjectives to describe this one!
Thank you so much for sharing Aunty Val's Malva Pudding Kitty, it's the best one EVER!