Malva Pudding

Malva pudding is a South African baked pudding, a soft sponge with apricot jam in the batter. It's soaked in a hot cream and butter sauce the moment it leaves the oven. To make malva pudding, you beat sugar and eggs with the jam, then add melted butter, vinegar, flour, bicarbonate of soda and milk. It bakes at 180°C (160 to 170°C in a fan oven) for 30 to 45 minutes, until it's browned and well risen. Then you pour the sauce over while it's still hot. The vinegar matters, because it's the acid the bicarbonate of soda needs to rise. The jam brings moisture and a faint fruit note, and the batter has only a little butter on purpose, since the richness comes later from the sauce. That's also why timing matters so much: a hot sponge drinks the sauce in, and a cooled one leaves it sitting in a puddle. Jan Ellis pudding is its close cousin. The story goes that it's named after Jan Ellis, a Springbok rugby player of the 1960s and 70s, because it was his favourite. The difference most people point to is that Jan Ellis pudding doesn't call for vinegar. Malva pudding itself is thought to be of Cape Dutch origin. It was probably based on a pudding Dutch settlers brought to the Cape. Nobody has settled where the name comes from: it's often linked to malvalekker, the Afrikaans word for marshmallow, which suits the texture, and sometimes to malvasia wine. Serve it warm with custard or vanilla ice cream. If you'd like it with cocoa, AFN's chocolate malva pudding uses a cocoa sponge and a cocoa cream sauce.