 | |
| Type | Pudding |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | South Africa |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | flour, sugar, milk,apricot jam , balsamic vinegar |
Malva pudding is a cake or pudding of South African cuisine. It containsapricot jam and has a spongycaramelised texture. A cream sauce is always poured over it while it is hot, and it is usually served warm with coldcustard and/orice-cream. Many South African restaurants offer the dish, which is thought to originally be of Dutch andCape Dutch origin.
The primary ingredients are flour, sugar, milk or cream, baking soda, vinegar, and apricot jam.[1][2]
The ingredients are mixed using thecreaming method into a batter and baked in a pan to create a cake.[2] Holes are pricked into it, and while it is still hot a warm sauce or glaze made of butter, cream, and sugar is poured over it to seep into the cake through the holes.[1] It is often garnished with slices of dried apricots, sometimes glazed or pickled.[2]
The pudding is typically served warm and often with custard or ice cream. It is served in many restaurants in South Africa.[1]
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The dish is spongy and moist and is described as comforting.[2][3]Genevieve Ko, writing in theNew York Times, said, "Eating it for the first time feels like meeting a soul mate".[3]
The pudding is thought to be of Dutch orCape Dutch origin and likely based on a similar pudding brought to the region byDutch colonists in the mid-1600s; baking was not a part of the indigenous diet.[4][1][2]
Recipes in South African cookbooks date to the 1970s, and a possible predecessor with the same name which is boiled rather than baked and does not call for the apricot jam that is ubiquitous in modern recipes dates to the 1924South African Cookery Made easy by a Mrs. P.W. De Klerk.[5][3] The dish is believed to have been made in homes "for generations" before it entered cookbooks and restaurants.[1] It appeared on the menu of theBoschendal Wine Estate in 1978.[1] According to the restaurant's chef,Maggie Pepler, she got the recipe from her mother, who called ittelefoenpoeding "because farmers' wives would call each other up and read the recipe over the phone".[1] A recipe fortelefoenpoeding, which called for ginger and apricot jam, appears in the 1918Oranje Kook-, Koek- en Resepteboek by Mrs. D. J. H.[6] According to Ko, the dish's "creation remains a mystery".[3]
There are various theories on the name, all of which are anecdotal.[7][1] TheOxford English Dictionary says it comes fromAfrikaansmalvalekker, meaning "marshmallow" (ultimately from Latinmalva, amallow).[8][7] This may arise from a resemblance between the pudding's texture and that of a marshmallow or a similar Afrikaner sweet, themalvelekker, made with the extract ofmarsh mallow.[9]Malva is also Afrikaans forgeranium (in the broad sense, includingPelargonium).[10][7] Another botanical theory is that the batter was originally flavoured with the leaves of the lemon- or the rose-scented geranium, varieties of South African native plants.[9][7] Another theory is that the sauce originally containedMalvasia (malmsey) wine. Proponents of this theory includebrandy orsherry in the sauce.[9][7]
The dish is particularly popular inAfrikaans households and in general inCape Town.[1][2] According to Sarah Jampel, writing in 2016 forFood52, the dish "has come to dominate the South African dessert arena as a singular, untouchable pudding entity".[1]
The dish gained popularity on theWest Coast of theUnited States afterOprah Winfrey's personal chef,Art Smith, served it forChristmas dinner in 2006 to pupils of theOprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.[11]
Several very similar dishes exist in South African cuisine, including Jan Ellis pudding, which does not call for vinegar, and brown pudding, which is glazed with a sauce that does not include cream.[6] Cape brandy pudding includesCape brandy anddates.[12]
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