Garden Day Rooibos Picnic: Rooibos Malva Pudding with Yogurt and Apricot Jam

This Sunday 21 October we will celebrate Garden Day with our fellow South Africans. Garden Day is a time to celebrate spring's magic in our gardens and invite family and friends around. Not everyone has the luxury of owning a garden, or having access to one, so we decided to head over to the Green Point Park and its Biodiversity Garden with friends to celebrate this wonderful garden that is accessible to everyone. 

It is a little piece of paradise in the middle of the Mother City. For a fun day out, school tours, family picnics, children’s birthday parties, outdoor exercise, romantic walks and healthy activities; this is beautiful natural place to get some fresh air and be social. This carefully curated garden is composed of a rich variety of flora indigenous to the Cape, and offers the only Biodiversity Showcase Garden of its kind, featuring 25 000 indigenous plants, trees, shrubs, bulbs and groundcovers, consisting of 300 different plant species!

It is a wonderful place so have a picnic and we definitely need something sweet to take with! Malva pudding is a South African favourite and in some households, no celebration goes by without a warm bowl of trusty malva pudding to finish it off. We used our Hidden Valley loose-leaf Rooibos for a full red colour and firm tannins which support the sweet flavour of apricot jam.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PUDDING

• 20 ml butter
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 2 eggs
• 15 ml smooth apricot jam
• 5 ml bicarbonate of soda
• 125 ml lukewarm strong Rooibos 
• 250 ml cake flour
• 1 ml salt
• 5 ml white vinegar

ROOIBOS CREAM SAUCE

• 250 ml cream
• 180 ml white sugar
• 125g butter
• 125 ml strong hot Rooibos
• 5 ml vanilla essence

ON TOP

• Double cream yogurt
• Apricot jam

How to make the magic

• Preheat oven to 180 ° C.
• Grease a 1.5 liter baking dish or ovenproof dish with butter.
• Mix butter and sugar together. Add the whole eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat the mixture until light and fluffy.
• Stir in jam.
• Stir the baking soda with warm Rooibos and stir it into the egg mixture.
• Sift the flour and salt together and fold into the egg mixture. Lastly, stir in the vinegar.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan or dish and bake 45 minutes or until done.

Rooibos cream sauce

• Place all the ingredients for the cream sauce in a small saucepan and heat over low heat.
• Stir until the butter has melted and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the warm sauce over warm pudding.
• Press 8 individual servings with a cookie cutter or cut into cubes.
• Decorate as desired with double cream yogurt and apricot jam