Malva & Milk Tart Pudding

A delicious fusion of two South African classics – malva pudding meets milk tart in one irresistible, gooey dessert!

Malva Pudding Layer

Ingredients:

• 250ml (1 cup) sugar
• 1 egg
• 15ml soft butter
• 60ml apricot jam
• 250ml milk
• 10ml vinegar
• 10ml vanilla essence
• 1 cup cake flour
• 5ml bicarbonate of soda

Method for Malva Layer:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Beat the sugar, egg, butter, and apricot jam together until light and fluffy. Combine the milk, vanilla essence, and vinegar in a separate cup.
3. Sift the cake flour and bicarbonate of soda together.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk mixture.
5. Pour the batter into a greased ovenproof dish (± 30 × 20 cm).
6. Cover with foil and bake for 40–50 minutes. Check at 40 minutes – insert a skewer or knife into the centre. It should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter or completely clean (indicating it’s cooked but still gooey).
7. The top should be golden brown and springy when lightly pressed, with the edges pulling slightly from the dish.

Malva Sauce

Ingredients:

• 125ml fresh cream
• 20g butter
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 30ml water

Method for Sauce:

1. Place the cream, butter, sugar, and water in a pot.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
3. Once the pudding comes out of the oven, pour the hot sauce evenly over the top.
4. Set aside to cool to room temperature while you prepare the milk tart layer.

Milk Tart Layer

Ingredients:

• 4½ cups milk
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2½ Tbsp cake flour
• 2½ Tbsp corn flour
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp butter
• Ground cinnamon (for dusting)

Method for Milk Tart Layer:

1. Heat 4 cups of milk in a pot until hot but do not boil. Remove from the heat.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar.
3. Add one ladle of the warm milk to the egg mixture and mix well (this tempers the eggs).
4. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot in a slow, steady stream while whisking continuously.
5. Place the pot back onto the stove.
6. In a bowl, mix together the flour, corn flour, and the remaining ½ cup of milk. Add the flour mixture to the pot while whisking until the mixture thickens well.
7. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla essence and butter.
8. Pour the hot milk tart mixture over the cooled Malva layer.
9. Dust generously with ground cinnamon on top.
10. Cover the dish with plastic wrap (touching the surface to prevent a skin) and refrigerate until fully set.

Once set, enjoy cold or allow it to come to room temperature before serving as is or with ice cream.