Malva Pudding
Malva Poeding
Malva Pudding was the kind of dessert that made a Sunday roast feel complete — the final note everyone waited for even while pretending they were too full. The batter always smelled faintly of apricot jam, a scent that drifted through the kitchen long before the pudding rose in the oven.
As a child, the magic wasn't in the baking but in what came after: the moment the hot pudding was pulled from the oven and the warm sauce was poured over it. The sauce soaked in slowly, disappearing into the sponge with a soft hiss, turning the top glossy and the edges dark and sticky. You'd watch it settle, knowing the best slices were the ones taken from the corners where the sauce pooled thickest.
Ingredients
- 200 ml sugar
- 50 g butter
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp apricot jam
- 250 ml milk
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 250 g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 8 tsp vinegar
- Butter sauce:
- 500 ml evaporated milk (or swap 250 ml with cream for a heavier sauce)
- 250 g butter
- Pinch of salt
- 250 g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 0.25 cup water
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a large 2-litre ovenproof dish.
- Cream the butter and sugar together.
- Beat the eggs, vinegar and apricot jam into the creamed mixture.
- Combine the remaining dry ingredients with the milk and add to form the batter.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown, slightly springy to the touch, and the edges are pulling slightly away from the dish.
- Make the sauce by combining and simmering all sauce ingredients over a medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved and the sauce is piping hot.
- Take the dish out of the oven and poke holes all over with a skewer. Turn the oven off.
- Pour the hot sauce over the pudding so it soaks in completely.
- Return to the switched-off oven and allow 5-10 minutes for all the sauce to be absorbed.