Polydish city guide
Best Malva pudding in New York
“A spongy caramelised cake with apricot jam, crowned with a poured cream sauce and served warm with cold custard.”
What the real thing tastes like
Malva pudding is a baked cake or pudding of South African cuisine. It contains apricot jam and has a spongy caramelised texture. A cream sauce is always poured over it while it is hot, and it is usually served warm with cold custard and/or ice-cream. Many South African restaurants offer the dish, which is thought to originally be of Dutch and Cape Dutch origin. It is widely available in South African (and in Botswana) supermarkets too, off the shelves.
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Malva pudding is a baked South African cake that lives in that perfect threshold between spongy and caramelised — apricot jam stirred into the batter gives it a subtle fruity undertone. The real signature move is pouring a cream sauce over the hot cake, then serving it warm with cold custard or ice-cream, so every spoonful has that contrast of temperatures and textures. Dutch and Cape Dutch origins run through this dish, and it's so embedded in South African food culture that you'll find it in restaurant dessert cases and supermarket shelves across the country.
Order it here when it has
- spongy caramelised texture
- cream sauce component
- widely available
- Cape Dutch heritage
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