Tag Archives: dessert

Malva Pudding

 

This dessert is a little jewel. My brother-in-law Mike made it during our Thanksgiving festivities in Kentucky.

It’s kind of like a very moist cake. Picture a Tres Leches cake, but more thin and–dare I say–more delicious? I haven’t decided if I dare or dare not, since I love a good Tres Leches Cake.

This is a South African dessert. Mike happens to be from South Africa, and this recipe has been passed along through the generations. You are making a historical artifact, essentially, and engaging in a cookery lore that has been fine-tuned to hit your taste buds just so.

I had the honor of holding the original, 200-year old recipe card in my own hands, and kissed it with my own lips.

Well, that was the interesting version, but the real version if that Mike hopped on the worldwide web and found this recipe on food.com. Heh heh.

But whether it came from the in’ernet or came from his South African grandmother’s sticky recipe box on a hand-written card with the marks of love, age, and flour all over it, it’s equally delicious.

If you’re dubious about the ‘moist’ part (as I was–I hate anything that remotely rings of sogginess), take your doubts and give them a swift kick in the groin. They have no place here. Here, only deliciousness reigns.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

For the pudding

3/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 TBS apricot jam

1 1/4 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBS butter (generous TBS)

1 tsp vinegar

1/3 c milk

For the sauce

3/4 heavy whipping cream

7 TBS butter

1/2 c sugar

1/3 c hot water

2 tsp vanilla

Let’s get started!

First, find two strapping young men to do the work.

And don’t come out until you have that pudding on a plate!

Then, go watch funny youtube videos with your sister . . . .

. . . and let the magic unfold in the kitchen ‘by itself’ so to speak.

Now get your oven preheating to 350.

Grease an oven dish (a 7×7 square Pyrex dish works, or a circular one like Mike used). Baking spray never hurt anyone if you don’t feel like getting down and dirty with the butter dish.

Beat together the sugar and the eggs until the mixture is thick and yellow.

Add the apricot jam, and mix it in.

Melt the butter, and add in both the butter and vinegar.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; add it to the wet mixture along with the milk and give the whole thing a good beating.

If your mixer has a really deep bowl, be aggressive with your spatula. You don’t want flour hanging around the bottom of the bowl.

That’s what happened to Mike, and he was obliged to pour the batter back into the bowl from the baking pan and remix it.

I’m sorry I had to point that out, Mike, but you may have just saved our readers from making the same mistake! It’s called a ‘moral’ and I always have to include one in my ‘story.’

Pour the whole mixture into the greased oven pan.

Bake that baby until the pudding is golden brown and has risen (somehwere between 30-45 minutes).

Meanwhile, make the sauce: melt the butter and mix all the ingredients together. Very straightfoward.

As soon as the pudding comes out of the oven . . .

. . . pour the sauce over it as evenly as possible.

Let it stand for a few minutes before serving. This gives the cream time to invade every inch of this amazing dessert.

It really should be served warm, so gather everyone together. C’mon Dave and Erica! Let’s boogie!

Time to serve it up, whether Erica and Dave are willing to stop suggling or not.

Every bite caused my senses to celebrate this thing called ‘dessert.’

This South African treat is guaranteed to put a smile on everyone’s face.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Malva Pudding

Berries in a Cloud Jello Dessert

This is one of the least photogenic desserts I have encountered. It’s also extremely delicious. My sister Erica served it for Thanksgiving this year, and I could hardly keep my fingers out of it.

My hand was smacked many times.

But nothing could stop me! My days of feeling hoity-toity about Jello dessert are over, man.

Here are the traces of this supremely elite dessert on  my emptied Thanksgiving plate.

Hint: it’s the red splotchy stuff at approximately 11 o’clock, wedged between the gravy (brownish stuff) and the mashed sweet potatoes (orangeish stuff).

It’s so complicated to make that Erica had to go to culinary school just to learn the building blocks. It involves things like mixing Jello powder into water. Mixing Jello liquid into Cool Whip. Pouring a bag of frozen fruit into  the Jello. These are all very delicate operations that you need specialized utensils for, such as a spoon. And a bowl or two. Have I scared you off yet?

Since I don’t have step by step photos, I have instead chosen to insert some choice shots of the three of us sisters devouring this dessert like hyenas. We descended on it with spoons, with passion, and with raging appetites. Viewer discretion is cautioned. Or viewer caution is discretioned. Cautionary discretion is viewed. Whatever.

As usual, the printable Word document link is at the bottom. Enjoy, all ye peoples!

Ingredients

(Serves 8)

2 packages black raspberry Jello

2 packages strawberry Jello (or other berry Jello)

1-8 oz container Cool Whip

1 bag frozen mixed berries

Prepare the strawberry Jello following the package instructions. Once the liquid is cool, reserve 2-3 TBS of the liquid.

Mix the frozen berries into the strawberry Jello, and pour the mixture into a Jello mould or Bundt pan.

Chill the strawberry Jello in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes to an hour.

I love how my husband is donning an apron in the background. He’s getting ready to clean up our Jello mess, a mess so huge that it will require All Hands on Deck.

Stir the 2-3 reserved TBS of Jello liquid into 1 container of Cool Whip and chill. It will become pink and delicious.

Prepare the black raspberry Jello according to the package instructions. Erica uses ice cold water to temper it. Pour it into the mould or Bundt pan on top of the chilled strawberry Jello and chill the whole shebang for several hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, fill your sink with some hot water and put the bottom of the Bundt pan in the water for a couple seconds (literally 2 seconds, without submerging). Turn it upside down on a platter, and the Jello should come out easily. Top with pink Cool Whip delight.

Soon, your lovely platter will look something like this:

It’s inevitable, so just accept it.

Click here for printable version: Berries in a Cloud Jello Dessert