03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Chef's Favorite Dessert Is Also the Easiest to Make
Eating malva pudding for the first time feels like meeting a soul mate, its swirl of butter and sugar instantly familiar to the deep heart's core, its softness, somehow simultaneously fluffy and dense, thrilling and intimate. With each bite of the cream-soaked cake, there's a sense of wonder: I already know you so well, have we met before?
And maybe you have — lucky you! In which case, each reunion must be pure joy. Or maybe malva pudding reminds you of the tacky chew of sticky toffee pudding or the milky sponge of tres leches. But why spend time trying to track down connections when those minutes are better spent getting this easy, fast dessert into the oven and eating it warm from the pan.
Recipe: Malva Pudding
Malva pudding originated in South Africa and is beloved there and throughout its diaspora, but its creation remains a mystery. The lack of concrete facts about its history seems less important than the dessert's strong foundation: tender cake seasoned with apricot jam and drenched in buttery sweetened cream. Those fundamentals remain intact as cooks around the world make and remake it. The chef Eric Adjepong initially tasted malva pudding at Madiba in Harlem, during its incarnation as a South African restaurant, and it instantly became his favorite dessert of all time. 'It just blew my mind,' he said. 'It is divine.'
He composed a version for his restaurant, Elmina in Washington, D.C., and for his new cookbook, 'Ghana to the World: Recipes and Stories That Look Forward While Honoring the Past,' written with Korsha Wilson, who contributes to The New York Times. Even as Mr. Adjepong has gained national recognition through his appearances on 'Top Chef' and his hosting of Food Network shows, he continues to perfect recipes in the kitchen.
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