How to Make Malva Pudding Video
Learn how to make a sweet dessert that's popular in Botswana's Safari Camps
If it’s one thing I love at the end of my nightly meal, it’s a good dessert. In Botswana, we’ve enjoyed some amazing sweets, including my favorite from the trip... malva pudding. This African dessert is popular in safari camps, because it’s easy to make and tasty.
Miniliah Moitshoki or "Mini", one of the cooks at African Horseback Safaris in the Okavango Delta at Macatoo Camp, gave me a cooking lesson, and I asked her to show me how to make malva pudding. I can tell you that there’s a lot of buttery goodness involved.
Here are the steps in our Equitrekking cooking video on how to make malva pudding, safari camp style. The recipe is below.
Back in the USA, I actually tried to make this at home. Since I didn't have apricot jam, I substituted raspberry jam instead and it tasted great.
Mini's Malva Pudding Recipe
serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbs butter
1 tbs apricot jam
1 tbs white vinegar
1 cup milk
1 egg
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
3.5 ounces butter
1 cup milk
For Toppings
Heavy, fresh cream
Malva Pudding Steps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and the egg in a mixing bow and beat this until it’s smooth and fluffy. You can beat it manually with a whisk or using a food processor. Then add flour, baking powder and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients -- milk, melted butter, apricot jam and a splash of vinegar. Mix well.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well.
Pour into an oven-proof dish, and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
In a pot, melt together the ingredients for the sauce. When the cake is halfway baked, take it out of oven. Make holes in the cake and pour the sauce over the pudding. Return the pudding to the oven to finish cooking.
Serve warm with heavy cream.
Video Transcript
DARLEY (VO): If there’s one thing I love at the end of a nightly meal, it’s a good dessert. I was happy to discover that I didn’t have to sacrifice my sweet tooth on safari in Botswana. There were plenty of tasty desserts to help me refuel each night, and one in particular stood out – malva pudding. Mini, one of the camp cooks, showed me how to prepare this easy to make dessert that’s popular in the safari camps.
MINILIAH “MINI” MOITSHOKI: Okay, I put sugar first. Then I add egg. Then I beat this until it’s smooth and fluffy.
DARLEY (VO): You can use a food processor alternatively.
MINI: Now it’s smooth and fluffy.
DARLEY (VO): Now, add flour, baking powder and baking soda.
MINI: Now, we’re going to mix up the wet ingredients.
DARLEY (VO): Mini lets me help with the next steps. I combine milk and melted butter with apricot jam and a splash of vinegar and mix away. Can you tell I spend more time on horseback than in the kitchen? Minnie decides I’ve mixed it well enough. Then, we combine the wet and dry ingredients and give it a final mix.
DARLEY: So lots of sugar and jam make for good desserts.
MINI: Yeah. It makes it very sweet.
DARLEY (VO): Then, we pour the sweet mixture in a well-greased baking dish.
MINI: Now we are ready to cook.
DARLEY: And I can hardly wait to eat it.
DARLEY (VO): The malva pudding needs to bake for about 45 minutes, but that’s not all, Mini then added on a special sauce.
MINI: Okay, when it was cooked, I heated up milk, sugar and butter and I poured it on top.
DARLEY: Oh my goodness even more sugar.
MINI: Yes.
DARLEY: Alright, now I know it’s going to be good, especially when we add this heavy cream.
MINI: Exactly.
DARLEY: Um. Yum. Should we try it?
MINI: Yes.
DARLEY: Alight, here we go.
MINI: How is it?
DARLEY: Mmm. Very good.
MINI: Thank you.
DARLEY: I’m going to make this at home.
DARLEY (VO): And if I’m going to make it at home. You know it’s that good, probably better in the wilds of Botswana.
Learn more about the Okavango Delta Horse Safaris. For more information on the Okavango Delta, visit the Botswana Tourism website
