Desserts · Recipes · South African
BySam
1 Comment
When Ultra Mel asked me to come up with a recipe to use my favourite ready-made custard I knew I wanted to do a malva pudding. It’s one of my absolute best South African autumnal and winter desserts. It’s actually perfect all year round and given the state of the world right now, we could all do with as much sugary comfort as we can get. Ultra Mel is luscious and unctuous whilst not being too sweet. I can normally be found drinking it directly from the carton from the fridge (I live alone ok) but it makes the perfect accompaniment to the richness of this Malva pudding.
*notes – This recipe for malva pudding, a South African classic dessert has been adapted from what is widely regarded as the best malva pudding recipe in South Africa. It comes from the original restaurant on Boschendal Estate and was published in a small booklet decades ago (there is no publishing date). There are 13 contributors to the book including Micheal Oliver who is regarded as the godfather of this malva pudding recipe and he is always happy to share it.
I have found that the quantity of sauce to pudding ratio is way too much so I have halved it, but if you like a LOT of sauce, and this pudding is supposed to be drowning in it, then double this quantity. For my recipe test and to make one small bundt cake plus 6 mini bundt cakes I doubled this recipe (which is half of the original sauce quantity). I love to use orange or clementine juice instead of water and I have added the zest of clementine to the mix. Oranges aren’t quite in season yet but orange is perfect too. Finely chopped preserved ginger and soaked cranberries are the other twists I have added here and they are so delicious.
PS: if you like your pudding a little boozy like I do, add a splash (or 3) of your favourite liqueur. I think any orange liqueur like Cointreau or Grand Marnier would be grand. Dark spiced Rum or brandy would be lovely too. Add it to the pot with the sauce at the end.
Other malva pudding recipes you might like:
Malva pudding with pear and ginger
Original Malva pudding with orange
Other South African favourite recipes:
The best buttermilk bran rusks
Classic South African unbaked milk tarts
Earl Grey tea milk tart-Baked milk tart
My grandmother Betty’s crunchy recipe
Easy peppermint crisp pudding
Traditional South African bobotie with fragrant yellow rice
Malva pudding with cranberries & ginger
A traidional South African Malva pudding recipe with ginger & cranberries for a twist
Print Recipe
Prep Time:10 minutes mins
Cook Time:50 minutes mins
Ingredients
PUDDING:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp smooth apricot jam
- Zest of an orange/clementine
- 1 cup / 140gms cake flour
- 1 tsp baking soda/bicarb
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped preserved ginger
- 50 gms cranberries soaked in boiling water for 20 minutes then drained & cooled
- Ultra Mel Vanilla custard to serve
SAUCE:
- ½ / cup cream
- 75 gm butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup clementine/ orange juice
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F)
Using an electric mixer beat the egg, sugar and jam on medium-high for about 5 minutes
In a separate bowl sift the flour, bicarb and salt.
Melt the butter in the microwave and then add the vinegar.
Whilst the mixer is still going on slow alternate between adding the sifted flour and the milk in parts until it’s well combined.
Add the butter and vinegar mixture and the chopped ginger and briefly mix.
Empty the batter into a greased baking dish approx 20cm in diameter (glass pyrex or ceramic works well) or a small well-greased bundt cake tin or 8 – 10 well-greased mini bundt moulds.
Scatter the drained cranberries evenly over the surface of the batter. It is quite runny so it is better to add it in at this stage so as to avoid it sinking to the bottom of the dish. Gently swirl the fruit into the mix or push it in slightly with a skewer.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 mins. If you are making it into a bundt cake you will need to increase the cooking time to about 50 – 55 minutes. For mini bundt, the cooking time can be reduced to 35 – 40 minutes.
The pudding is ready when it has an even golden brown colour over the top, so bake a bit longer if it is still pale in the middle
While the malva pudding is baking, melt all the sauce ingredients in a small pot on the stove and pour this over the pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven. If you are making a bundt shape, pour about a ¼ of the sauce over, wait a few minutes and then tip it out while it is still warm (run a knife around the middle of the tin to loosen it).
Notes
- If you are not using one large flat dish for this malva pudding its quite difficult to pour all the sauce over in one go so I keep some aside to pour over later. Just keep drizzling it over until you can't any more. Its important that it is kept warm though.
Servings: 8 -10
Author: Sam Linsell
* This post is proudly sponsored by Ultra Mel
