Malva Pudding

As far as truly original South African treats go, Malva pudding is at the very top of the list. Most Saffas who have sunk their teeth into a Malva pudding and marveled at it’s silky smooth delectable taste and texture, don’t even know that this particular dessert hails from none other than “home”, aka South Africa.

 

A South African Treat

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6MmAc2xurk

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVB1U_-Ic-E

 

Who Invented Malva Pudding?

Maggie Pepler, who was born in 1926 and died in 2013 was the South African responsible for creating Malva pudding. Anyone who knew Maggie describes her as “brilliant”. She grew up in the farming community of Robertson in the Western Cape and was an entirely self-taught cook. In fact, she was known to give cooking classes in her local area and was everybody’s sweetheart! You will notice that Maggie’s Malva pudding recipe is probably a little different to the recipes you might get your hands on today. That’s because many people have added to and taken away from the recipe to give it a twist of their own. Either way, nothing can take away from the fact that Maggie’s pudding can be found on just about every South African restaurant’s menu today. Some say that the iconic pudding rose to fame when Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef served it for Christmas dinner to the pupils of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa in 2006.After this the dessert’s fame simply boomed in the United States.

If you are living an as expat overseas and simply want a sweet taste of home, whipping up your own Malva pudding will prove quick, easy, and delicious.

 

Maggie Pepler’s Malva Pudding Recipe

As an extra special treat, we’re going to share Maggie Pepler’s original Malva pudding with you. Below is the recipe that Maggie Pepler personally gave Michael Oliver (well-known London Chef and foodie) when he interviewed her before her death. This recipe serves 6. 

 

What You Need for the Cake:

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg (3 tablespoons of aquafaba for a vegan version)
• 1 tablespoon of apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter (can be plant based margarine for a vegan version)
• 1 cup of milk (can be any plant milk for a vegan version)

 

What You Need for the Sauce:

• 1/2 cup of cream (use coconut cream for a vegan version)
• 1/2 cup of milk (use plant milk for a vegan version
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of hot water
• 1/2 cup of butter (use plant based margarine for a vegan version)

 

What to Do:

• First, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Grease an ovenproof baking pan or glass container (a good size is 30cm x 20cm x 5cm).
• Cut a piece of tin foil big enough to cover the container. Grease it on one side.
• In a bowl, sift the flour and bicarb before stirring the sugar in.
• In a separate bowl beat the egg (or aquafaba) well and add in the remaining ingredients for the cake. Be sure to add each ingredient in one at a time while beating well between each.
• Now, beat the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon. Make sure that everything is mixed well.
• Pour this batter-like mixture into your greased backing dish and cover it up with the foil. Make sure that the greased side of the foil is facing downwards.
• Bake the batter for around 45 minutes until it has risen and is turning a brown colour. Remove the tinfoil and allow the cake to brown a bit more – usually around 5 to 6 extra minutes is sufficient.
• Before moving onto the next step, make sure that the cake is actually cooked through. You can push a wooden or metal skewer into the cake and if it comes out dry without any batter sticking to it, it is ready. This is important as an under-cooked cake will go stodgy and unpleasant.
• Now, it is time to whip up the sauce. In a pot, heat all of the sauce ingredients together, making sure that sugar and butter melts thoroughly.
• Pour this sauce all over the cake. The cake will soak up the sauce, which is what gives it that silky smooth texture.
• All that’s left to do is to serve it p and enjoy!

While Malva pudding is considered a dessert, don’t be surprised to find that your family and friends are more than willing to eat it as a meal at any time of the day! Malva pudding can be served hot, warm or even at room temperature. A lot of people like to enjoy it with a thin layer of custard or ice-cream but it’s also great with a dollop of icy cold coconut milk or coconut cream.

 

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