The Ultimate Comfort

I know many of you have had a sleepless night wondering what my dessert will be.... Sago, bread and butter pudding or milk tart ? It is very traditional , it was brought to us by the Dutch and is found on most restaurant menus in winter and is served with custard.

There are variations to this dessert , you can add brandy and call it tipsy or you can add dates and brandy and call it Cape Brandy tart.

Well done to those who have guessed ... MALVA PUDDING!

It is very simple to make and can very easily be made in large quantities suitable for any bazaar!

Malva Pudding ( Full credit to Kit at Food and Family)
Serves 6-8

1 heaped tablespoon butter
3 heaped tablespoons apricot jam
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ cup sugar
½ cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the beaten egg and jam and beat together. Add the dry ingredients and milk alternately and stir into the mixture. Pour the batter into a greased round dish approx 20cm. Cover either with a lid and bake at 180C 40 minutes until the top is browned and a skewer comes out clean.
The sauce is to drench it in as soon as it leaves the oven.

Sauce
1 cup cream
4oz / 100g butter (I left this out as Hubby does not eat "raw" butter" and it was still very good)
½ cup sugar
60 ml hot water.

Warm together the ingredients until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved and pour over the pudding as it comes out of the oven. You can prick holes in the top to help the sauce soak in.

There are recipes which call for a teaspoon of vinegar, but then you make this slightly differently by adding the melted butter and vinegar after the flour. I think Kit's recipe came out very well, and I like the creaming method best.

Thank you to the Dutch who brought this beautiful dish to our shores.