| Almost every restaurant in Cape Town has Malva | | | | sauce makes it a lot less rich and calorific, but |
| Pudding on its dessert menu. It is one of those | | | | does mean that you can eat a lot more of it! |
| ubiquitous dishes that one has to side-step | | | | Malva Pudding Recipe |
| diplomatically, as a tour manager organising menus | | | | Serves 6-8 |
| for a week of dinners for clients on walking | | | | 1 heaped tablespoon butter |
| holidays. If you're not careful you could end up | | | | 3 heaped tablespoons apricot jam |
| with a gastronomic tour of Cape Town's Malva | | | | 1 egg |
| Puddings! That's not to say that it is not a good | | | | 1 cup flour |
| dessert choice. It is rich, delicious and indulgent and | | | | 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda |
| has to be tasted at least once on a gourmet tour | | | | ½ cup sugar |
| of Cape Town. Along with many other traditional | | | | ½ cup milk |
| South African dishes it gives a nod to the | | | | Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the |
| Netherlands for its origins. Essentially a rather | | | | beaten egg and jam and beat together. Add the |
| homely baked cakey pudding, its restaurant | | | | dry ingredients and milk alternately and stir into |
| version soaks itself in a rich, creamy sauce to | | | | the mixture. Pour the batter into a greased round |
| take on a mantle of decadence, while elegant | | | | dish approx 21cm / 8 inches. Cover either with a |
| versions serve themselves up with a few | | | | lid or tinfoil and bake at 180C / 375F for 30 |
| poached apricots alongside too. | | | | minutes until the top is browned and a skewer |
| No-one seems to know where the name Malva | | | | comes out clean. Serve warm with custard and |
| pudding came from - suggestions range from a | | | | cream. |
| traditional accompaniment of Malvasia wine, a | | | | If you would like to try the rich and more |
| heavy dessert wine, to a woman named Malva | | | | traditional version of Malva Pudding, and I think it |
| creating it back in the mists of time. | | | | should be done once in a while, here is a recipe |
| I tried out my sister-in-law's recipe to make a | | | | for the sauce to drench it in as soon as it leaves |
| dessert to follow our Sunday lunch of roast | | | | the oven. |
| chicken and roast potatoes. Hers is a home | | | | Sauce |
| version rather than restaurant one and gives | | | | 1 cup cream |
| details for the cake without drenching it in the | | | | 4oz / 100g butter |
| creamy sauce. It produces a comforting | | | | ½ cup sugar |
| cross-between steamed pudding and cake, with a | | | | 60 ml hot water. |
| tantalising hint of the apricot jam that flavours it | | | | Warm together the ingredients until the butter |
| and a pleasing, almost caramelly overtone. It is | | | | has melted and the sugar dissolved and pour over |
| served warm with custard and cream alongside. | | | | the pudding as it comes out of the oven. You can |
| Leaving out the stage of drenching it with the | | | | prick holes in the top to help the sauce soak in. |