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South African Malva Pudding Mini Cakes

Name: South African Malva Pudding Mini Cakes Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 tablespoon apricot jam; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/3 cup milk; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; 1 teaspoon vinegar; 1 stick unsalted butter ((8 tablespoons)); 1/3 cup sugar; 1/4 cup hot water; 3/4 cup heavy cream; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

September 11, 2018 · by Jas · 30 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure.

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This classic South African dessert, malva pudding is spongy in texture, sticky and irresistible. You’ll love baking the malva pudding in a muffin pan not only because the mini cakes are just the right portions for individual servings but also because you won’t have to worry about slicing it perfectly.

Here’s a recipe, a little something new for you, and fresh for me. I’ll be honest, the first time I heard of this, I was like “huh?” But, I am SO glad that I made this dessert because it is absolutely delicious!

What is Malva pudding?

To be clear, this isn’t a pudding as you would buy in little Jello cups as a pack of four. This type of dessert has a spongy, caramelized texture made with apricot jam and served hot with a cream sauce poured over the top of it.

Sounds much better than the pudding you first thought of, right? This type of pudding is more so like a cake, as you can tell, and pairs so nicely with some ice cream or whipped cream.

Who doesn’t love a warm, gooey cake à la mode? Unless you’re lactose intolerant, you’re lying if you don’t like ice cream. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

Ingredients for mini pudding cakes:

sugar
eggs
apricot jam
baking soda
milk
all-purpose flour
unsalted butter
vinegar
heavy cream
vanilla extract

Sweet, sticky, and spongy, these South African Malva Pudding Mini Cakes are perfect for entertaining. #dessert #malvapudding #recipe #cake

How do you make Malva sticky pudding?

*Keep scrolling to get the full (printable) recipe, and ingredient amounts, or click on the “Skip to Recipe” button at the top of the page.

Make the Pudding Cakes:

Beat the butter and sugar together; add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
Add in the jam and mix through.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix alternating with milk. Stir in the vinegar. Combine everything together.
Pour into the prepared muffin pan and bake until the cakes turn golden brown on the edges about 30-45 minutes (about 60 minutes if you’re not using a muffin pan).

Make the Cream Sauce:

In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and heat over medium heat until butter is melted and everything is well combined.

Assemble:

Take out the cakes from the oven and poke holes with a toothpick all over them. Pour the sauce over the hot baked pudding cakes.
Let the cakes stand for about 20-30 minutes for the sauce to completely soak in.

I’m not promising that won’t stop you from eating more than one of these, and therefore, multiple portions. It’s happened before.

I once knew a young girl who was bright and ambitious. She was a gentle, friendly person, and was a little particular about the foods she ate. She also has a massive sweet tooth and ate 8 muffin-sized guava cheesecakes last Thanksgiving. 😲

I can’t blame her, though. When the dessert is good, it’s good. And no muffin-sized, portioned-out servings of it are going to stop you from indulging. 😋

When you have a cake like this that makes you melt into your chair, you’ll want to indulge all you want (and you can). The cream sauce is poured over the top of the mini cakes as soon as they come out of the oven, so it soaks into the cake. Talk about decadent!

If you’re stuck what dessert you’re trying to bring for the holidays, this is an excellent option for you to try.

Other people can come with the store-bought cookies or the box-mix brownies, but you can bring something to the table that will be memorable, and that everyone will be asking about it.

Unless that young girl manages to eat 8 of them again. Oh, also, that young girl was me. 🙋‍♀️

Recipe Notes:

This South African sticky dessert is something you can experiment with a little:

Try using ginger in the pudding mix for a little bit of spice or switching some of the ingredients for the cream sauce.
I’ve heard of people using sweetened condensed milk instead of cream, and some like to add almond extract in addition to the vanilla extract.
Serve the pudding cakes warm or cold as they are, or you can dust them with powder sugar or top with ice cream.
It is best to serve the pudding when the sauce is fully absorbed.
You can make malva pudding as one big thing, or you can use a muffin pan to create single servings. For this recipe, I decided to use a large, 6-cup, muffin pan to create those perfect little portions, because I love dessert and I have minimal self-control.
Serve it warm or cold.

Whichever your preference is, I guarantee that these little pudding muffins will steal your heart!

Other South African sweets you’ll love: