This vegan malva pudding is rich, sticky, caramely and saucy! It’s totally divine served warm with vegan whipped cream or ice cream.
Malva pudding is a huge favorite in South Africa. If you go to a wedding in South Africa, the chances are good there’ll be malva pudding served.
If you go to a dinner party the chances are good there’ll be malva. It’s served in many restaurants. So you get the idea, it’s kind of a big deal in SA culture.
In terms of a comparison, I would say it’s pretty close to a sticky toffee pudding.
It’s a sponge cake made with apricot jam and you poke a bunch of holes in it and pour over a creamy sauce. The sponge soaks it up and the result is a rich, moist, sticky, caramel pudding!
Even though it is VERY saucy, as you make a big batch of sauce to pour over it, it’s usually served hot with custard, whipped cream or ice cream as well. I mean bring on the richness!
So I wanted to make a vegan version of malva pudding, which I did, and it came out wonderfully!
You really wouldn’t know this is a vegan malva unless someone told you. Everything about it, from taste to texture is just spot on.
How To Make Vegan Malva Pudding
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
The Pudding:
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add white vinegar to some soy milk and let it curdle. Then add that to the mixing bowl along with applesauce, apricot jam and coconut oil and mix into a batter. Use a hand whisk briefly to remove any large lumps. It’s okay if the apricot jam isn’t entirely mixed and has some little lumps.
- Transfer the batter to a 9×9 square baking dish.
- Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
The Sauce:
- When the malva is almost finished cooking, start making your sauce.
- Add vegan butter to a saucepan and melt it.
- Add sugar and coconut cream and heat together until it reaches a simmer, stirring all the while.
- Remove from the heat and add vanilla extract.
Putting It Together:
- When the malva comes out the oven, poke holes all over it with a toothpick and then pour over the sauce.
- Make sure to distribute the sauce evenly across the whole pudding. Leave it to sink in.
- When the sauce has mostly sunk into the pudding, cut it into squares.
How To Serve Malva Pudding
It’s wonderful served warm with vegan whipped cream or vegan ice cream.
How Long Does It Keep?
It keeps perfectly covered in the fridge for around 5 days and can be reheated slice by slice in the microwave. Top with your vegan cream or ice cream and it’s just as good as the day it was made.
More Vegan Puddings and Desserts
- Vegan Bread Pudding
- Vegan Rice Pudding
- Vegan Peach Cobbler
- Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Peaches and Cream Chia Pudding
- Vegan Apple Crisp
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Malva Pudding
Ingredients
For the Malva Pudding:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar
- ½ cup Soy Milk (120ml)
- ½ cup Applesauce (140g)
- 2 Tablespoons Smooth Apricot Jam (40g)
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (30ml) Melted
For the Sauce:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ¾ cup White Granulated Sugar (150g)
- 1 cup Canned Coconut Cream (240ml) Unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a 9×9 square dish* with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Add the white vinegar to the soy milk and let it curdle. Then add that in along with the applesauce, apricot jam and coconut oil and mix into a batter. Use a hand whisk briefly to remove any large lumps. It’s okay if the apricot jam isn’t entirely mixed and has some little lumps.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- When the malva is almost finished cooking, start on your sauce.
- Add the butter to a saucepan and melt it. Add the sugar and coconut cream and heat together until it reaches a simmer, stirring all the while. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract.
- When the malva comes out the oven, poke holes all over it with a toothpick and then pour over the sauce making sure to distribute it evenly across the whole pudding. Let the sauce sink in and then cut into squares.
- Serve warm with vegan whipped cream or vegan ice cream.
Notes
- You can probably also use a different non-dairy milk such as almond milk or oat milk though we have not tested all options.
- Use canned full fat unsweetened coconut cream for the sauce. It does not need to be chilled and the cream does not need to be separated from the water, just shake up the can and measure out a cup. You could also use canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.
- An 8×8 square dish is also fine to use, but the baking time may be slightly longer.
- Nutritional information is for the malva pudding and sauce only and excludes ice cream.
- This recipe was first published in March 2016.
Jan Noga says
This was disappointing. I needed a recipe for malva that would work for someone with lactose intolerance, so vegan seems the way to go. I followed the recipe exactly, including the timing. It looked fine when it came out of the oven. Then I poured the sauce over it. I do it slowly, a ladle at a time to keep everything from running to the center. Even so, the center completely dissolved, so the malva looks more like a volcano than a pudding with a slightly lower center. And the sauce just tastes like sugar – there’s no flavor or richness to it at all. It didn’t taste as nice as my regular recipe either. Since I need to be able to remove this from the pan, put it in a cake box, and transport, this is certainly not going to work. Back to the drawing board!
Greer says
This was a winner. Took this as a contribution to a potluck and came home with the dish scraped clean! Served mine with vegan custard. When I next make it, I will cut back just slightly on the sugar content in the batter, as the syrup is pretty sweet (but that is just our personal preference).
Nadine @ Loving It Vegan says
Awesome! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Greer! Thanks so much for your great review!
Donna says
Could this recipe be doubled for a 9 x 13 baking dish for a church potluck lunch? I’ll be making it gluten free & usually add a little more baking powder to compensate for gluten free flour. I think it should work as it does with chocolate self-saucing pudding & sticky date etc. Could rice bran oil be substituted for coconut oil? From a cholesterol point of view as it already has coconut cream, so I’ll have to be disciplined, which will be hard work 😅😜😋
Nadine @ Loving It Vegan says
Hi Donna. Yes, you should be able to double the recipe for that size baking dish. We haven’t tested the recipe with another oil substitute, so I can’t say. I suggest testing it first with the rice bran oil and other substitutes before doubling the recipe for the potluck. Good luck!