MALVA PUDDING- A GENEROUS SIZE

Recipe and photo: Louise Groenewald

2 large or xl eggs
2 cups of light brown sugar
2 cups of self raising cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda (koeksoda)
3 tablespoons of fine apricot jam
3 tablespoons of vinegar
500 ml of full cream milk
3 tablespoons of soft butter
For sauce:
1 tin of Ideal Milk
½ to 1 cup of light brown sugar
½ cup of water
100 g of butter
1 tablespoon of vanilla, caramel or cappuccino essence
Mix eggs, sugar, butter and jam for 2 minutes. Now add vinegar, milk and whisk for a minute till well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the mixture and mix till all ingredients are combined. Do not overmix.
Pour in a rectangular greased baking tin (3 liter) or glass dish and bake for 35 minutes at 180°C.
Test by pressing lightly with your finger in the centre of the pudding. It must be springy and set. Insert sharp knife to double check if it’s done. If not, give it another 5 to 10 minutes. You can reduce the heat for the last 10 minutes to 170°C if you think it’s getting too dark on top.
While the pudding is baking (10 minutes before it comes out of the oven) put all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. I do it in the microwave oven and keep it warm on defrost setting if necessary.
When the pudding is done, take it out of the oven and immediately pour over the hot sauce.
Put it back into the warm switched off oven. Leave it for about 30 minutes. You can leave it there until cooled down or remove it from the oven.