Malva pudding, the quintessential South African pudding. Served after Sunday lunch and special occasions. Oh so sweet but oh so delicious!
I’m not sure where malva pudding originated but it is generally accepted that the modern malva pudding recipe was invented by a lady called Maggie Pepler.
This recipe was adapted from her original recipe but uses less bicarbonate of soda. I find that too much bicarbonate of soda gives the pudding an unpleasant bitter aftertaste.
This malva pudding recipe is one of the easiest puddings to make and it comes together really quickly. Perfect for those lazy Sunday afternoons or busy special occasions. I mix all ingredients in one bowl and there is no special techniques to follow. A simple cream sauce gets poured over as the pudding comes out the oven and it’s ready to be devoured.
Serve this simple pudding with homemade custard, ice cream or simply some pouring cream. A little goes a long way as this pud is sweet and sticky.
Do I Need Any Special Ingredients?
This surprisingly simple recipe just needs some staples from your fridge and pantry. Apricot jam is a traditional malva pudding ingredient, as is wait for it…vinegar! Yes vinegar. Because the recipe relies solely on 5ml of bicarbonate of soda for leavening the use of the vinegar assists in making it rise and get nice and fluffy inside. Don’t worry you won’t taste the vinegar after baking.
Lets Get Baking!
PrintThe Easiest Traditional Malva Pudding Recipe
(70 votes, average: 3.63 out of 5)
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Malva pudding, the quintessential South African pudding. Served after Sunday lunch and special occasions. Oh so sweet but oh so delicious.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 40 Minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: South African
Ingredients
Sauce
375 ml (1½ C) cream
125 g (½ C) butter, cut into blocks
200 ml (¾ C + 2 t) Sugar
1 ml (¼ t) salt
Batter
30 g (2 T) butter
100 ml (⅓ C + 4 t) Sugar
45 ml (3 T) Apricot Jam
1 egg
5 ml (1 t) bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
125 ml (½ C) milk
250 ml (1 C) all purpose flour
1 ml (¼ t) salt
20 ml (4 t) vinegar
Instructions
Sauce
Place the cream, butter, sugar, salt and in a medium saucepan.
Stirring continuously over a high heat, bring the sauce to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes.
Remove from the heat and keep warm.
Batter
Cream the butter and the sugar together until the butter is pale and soft.
Beat in the Apricot Jam
Beat in the egg.
Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda into the milk.
Sift the cake flour and the salt together and add to the batter, alternating with the milk.
Stir in the vinegar.
Spoon the batter into an ovenproof pudding bowl that has been buttered well.
Bake the Malva Pudding in an oven preheated to 180˚C (350 ˚F) for 40 minutes or until risen and golden.
Remove from the oven and pour sauce a little at a time until all the sauce is absorbed by the hot pudding.
Serve hot with custard, cream or ice cream.
Keywords: Easy Malva Pudding, Malva Pudding Recipe, Sticky Malva Pudding Recipe, Malva Pudding, South African Malva Pudding
Absolutely the best Malva Pudding recipe I ever used and tasted. I live in South Africa and tried so many recipes. This recipe is even better than store bought Malva Pudding. Well done Daryl!!!
Hi Daryl,
Thank you for this recipe – it worked wonderfully! It is going into our family recipe kit immediately 🙂
Blessings to you from New Zealand (South Africans abroad)
I’ve made this twice for different groups, both time I was told it was the best malva pudding they’ve ever had