Malva Pudding Cake/ Boschendal Pudding - South Africa

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Steven Biko

Malva Pudding is a classic South African dessert that originally comes from the Dutch. It is a sweet pudding, which is usually served hot with sauce, custard or ice-cream . Almost every restaurant in Cape Town has Malva Pudding on its dessert menu.

There are many variants of Malva pudding like the Cape Brandy Pudding which also include brandy and dates and the Tipsy Tart which contains only brandy.

Malva Pudding is made with apricot jam and has a spongy caramelized texture. The name “Malva” comes from Malvacea wine from Madeira. The dessert and desert wine used to be served together after main course at Cape tables. http://www.chirundu.com\

 Today's recipe is essentially Malva cake from Boschendal Winery outside of Capetown , from A Baker's Odyssey, by Greg Patent

Boschendal Pudding

Cake 

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup whole milk
pinch of salt

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 large egg

2 tablespoons apricot jam

1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Sauce

12 Tablespoons un salted  butter

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup boiling water 

Procedure:

CAKE

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 8 inch spring form pan, or another deep pan at least 3 inches. 

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda

Beat sugar and egg together on medium-high speed (   in a mixer ) until the mixture is very tick and pale yellow. On low speed,  add apricot jam and mix until blended.  Alternate adding dry/wet ingredients in 4 additions-to egg mixture. Ending with dry.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter . Add the one teaspoon vinegar to butter. Add this to egg/flour/milk mixture. Blend.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake until cake is golden brown and center tested comes out clean.

SAUCE

Melt butter, sugar water, and cream in a sauce pan until all sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot.  

Assembly

Once cake is done, remove from oven and slowly pour hot sauce mixture over cake.  The sauce will completely absorb into cake. 

Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, peaches, berries, apricots.

freshly baked- no sauce

sauce- approx 2 1/2 cups 

after saucing 

 oooey-gooooey

Assembled

WOW.. it really is a cake that turns into a pudding. It is very sweet, and rich, thick and goooey . It does have a nice caramel flavor to it. 

Changes/Notes: 

I would decreases the amount of butter/sugar and cream in the sauce. I think one cup would be enough. However, then it might not make it a full pudding cake.

I baked mine in a nine inch pan, thus leading to the problem above. BUT, I still feel too much sauce.

 Browning the butter in the sauce would give it a nice nutty addition of flavor. ( MAYBE)?

Some recipes i have read add vanilla or brandy to the sauce. I am sure you could add a spice or 2 if you wanted .

I like the serving with fruit,  it cuts the sweetness down. I did not sweeten the whipped cream. I like the tang against the sweet pudding. 

Nuts sprinkled for added texture? hmmm.....

I bet this would nice with peaches, apricots, or plums,  apples, layered on the bottom, then baked. Then the small sprinkle of sauce, and flipped. I could eat this plain.

Some recipes call for it to be eaten with ice cream, but i do not know if i could!

Obviously my changes would not make it a traditional MALVA pudding...but these are just ideas to think about. Most recipes are the same with minor changes. Google it....