Malva Pudding is a decadent South African dessert. It is sweet, milky, buttery, moist, and the perfect treat for when you want to indulge. My husband who doesn’t love desserts LOVES Malva Pudding!

This Malva Pudding is one of my favorite desserts to make during Christmas alongside Danish Butter Cookies and Homemade Shortbread Cookies.

It is the perfect holiday indulgence!

South African Malva Pudding

Hands up if you love baking especially during the weekend! This South African Malva Pudding also called malvapoeding is the perfect indulgence.

It is made by first baking a sponge then soaking it in an insanely good buttery sauce.

It is an I-have-worked-so-hard-so-I’m-gonna spoil-myself-today kind of dessert!

Mr. N is not a lover of sweet treats. But when he first tasted Malva, he just kept eating! And eating!

There is something irresistible about this luscious melt-in-your-mouth milky pudding. It is warm, rich and so satisfying!

This pudding has made me rethink my love for other decadent treats like souffles or mug cakes. That’s because it is like your best souffle, cake, or pudding in one. So so delicious!

I adapted this recipe from the amazing cookbook, The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by Chef Marcus Samuelson.

Make some, friends! You only need a few basic ingredients and one not-so basic ingredient: apricot jam. I use apricot preserves instead and it works so well! Check out my recipe for homemade Apricot Preserves which works well for Malva Pudding.

Ingredients For Malva Pudding

• All Purpose or Plain Flour
• Baking Soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda)
• Salt
• Egg
• Sugar
• Butter
• Apricot Jam or Preserves
• Whole Milk
• White Vinegar
• Vanilla Extract
• Evaporated Milk

How To Make Malva Pudding From Scratch

Making Malva Pudding from scratch is really easy. First, you bake a cake, then you make a buttery milky sauce and pour it on the cake. Just follow these simple steps. Also, check below for the full recipe and a video!

1. Make the batter: All the ingredients for the cake mixed together make a runny batter. Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.

2. Bake the cake: Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

3. Make the butter sauce: Simmer together butter, sugar, and evaporated milk. Pour the sauce all over the cake.

4. Let the cake rest and absorb the sauce: Let the cake rest for 5-10 minutes so it can absorb all of that good butter sauce.

4. Serve: Serve warm as it is or with your favorite toppings. You could serve the pudding with custard, ice cream, or whipped cream.

Variations

Use any jam you have on hand to make a different kind of Malva Pudding.

• Replace the apricot jam with guava jam to make guava malva. I have made this before and it was so good.
• Replace the apricot jam with strawberry jam to make strawberry malva.
• Replace the apricot jam with orange marmalade to make orange malva.

Serving Suggestions

Malva Pudding is great as it is and in fact, we mostly eat it by itself. However, to take it to the next level try serving with either of the following.

• Ice cream
• Whipped Cream
• Custard

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can you freeze malva pudding? Yes you can freeze malva pudding then thaw, reheat and serve. I love to reheat slice by slice in the microwave. Heat one slice in the microwave for 10 seconds. To reheat in the oven, make sure the pudding is in an oven safe dish. Cover tihghtly with aluminum foil and heat at 200 degrees Fahrenheit until heated through.
• Where did Malva Pudding originate? Malva pudding originated in South Africa.
• How do you make sauce for Malva Pudding? Combine butter, sugar and evaporated milk in a pot. Let them simmer until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.

Tips For The Perfect Malva Pudding

Here are tips I have gathered from making this dessert over the years.

• Make sure you use a wide baking dish as opposed to a deep baking dish. Do not use an 8 by 8 baking dish, for example. An 8 by 11 inch baking dish is perfect for this recipe. A wide baking dish ensures that the butter sauce soaks ALL of the pudding. If you use a smaller/deeper dish, parts of the cake do not absorb the sauce and its just not good.
• When you simmer the butter sauce milk solids might form on top. Scoop out the milk solids before pouring the sauce on the cake. This helps to give the cake a cleaner look.

Favorite Tools For Malva Pudding (Affiliate)

• 8 by 11 Inch Baking Dish
• Hand Crank Sieve
• Whisk
• The Apricot Preserves I Used

More African Desserts

• THE BEST CHIN CHIN RECIPE
• AFRICAN TWISTED DOUGHNUTS
• MANDAZI: EAST AFRICAN DOUGHNUTS
• COCONUT SWEET: TOASTED COCONUT FLAKES
• PERFECT PLAIN CAKE

Watch Me Making Malva Pudding

Watch me show you step-by-step how to make Malva Pudding in the video below. If you would like to never miss cooking videos please subscribe to my YouTube channel and click on the notification bell.

This post was first published on March 8th, 2019. It has been improved with more content, more pictures, and a video.

This post contains affiliate links.