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.
I absolutely love this recipe 😋 my daughter made it for a school social studies assignment and it turned out wonderful!
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing Robin!
THE BEST vegan Malva pudding recipe ever!!!. Woolworths launched their vegan version, I bought it and will never buy it again. Yours however I will make over, and over, and over again. Home run!!! Good job Alison.
Thanks so much Heather!
Holy cow, this was delicious! I’m a South African living in China and hadn’t had mavla pudding in years when I made this recipe for my British husband (vegan) and an American friend (not vegan). They both went nuts for it. Thank you for this fabulous recipe and for giving me a taste of home.
So happy to hear that Jacqui! Thanks for the amazing review!
I tried the recipe today! Delicious! I made the mistake of using raw sugar instead and it tasted a bit like it, but overall good. We tried Malva pudding last week for the first time at a South African restaurant, we loved it. Thank you for the recipe
So happy you enjoyed it Christina! Thanks for sharing!
OMG!!! This is the best vegan dessert I have ever eaten!! It’s only July and I already can’t wait to wow everyone this Christmas!! Also, there’s no way of telling that this is vegan (I had some non-vegans confirm!!). From what I remember it tastes exactly like the Woolies one. THANK YOU SO MUCH Alison!! Best wishes from Cape Town!
Awesome! So happy to hear that Nadia! 🙂
Can you make smaller portions and freeze them?
Hi Jaidee, yes I’m sure you can. It’s freezer friendly for up to 3 months but it’s better to freeze the sauce and pudding separately, then you can thaw in the fridge then reheat and add sauce.
Hi, can a mashed banana replace the applesauce in this recipe? Can’t wait to try it!
You possibly could but it would change the flavor and wouldn’t taste like malva.
It was delicious, easily the best recipe for malva I have used!
Thanks so much Samba!
This is absolutely unreal. I made this for family coming over for dinner and they loved it!
Awesome! Thanks for the great review Clara!
This is my husband’s favourite dessert and I made it for his birthday last week. He is not vegan but was totally blown away at how good it was and thought it just as good if not better than the non-vegan version. Served it with coconut ice cream one night and made (vegan) custard for the next night. Love your recipes Alison.
So happy to hear that Christine! Thanks a million! 🙂
I’m generally not a sweet toothed person but this looks exceptional so definitely going to try it, but with all purpose gluten free flour. It will probably be just as good.. Thank you for this delightful recipe
Hi Anna, yes gluten free all purpose should work just fine! Hope you love the recipe!
We are oil free or limit our oil. What can we use to replace the vegan butter? I have vegan coconut sweetened condensed milk. Would that work.
You could try it!
Hi,
My daughter has severe dairy, egg and nut allergies and while I have been able to makes cakes for her, I never thought I could make malva pudding as all my previous attempts failed. This one tastes really delicious and so glad I found this recipe. Thanks for sharing
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Jan! Thanks for sharing!