Malva Pudding

Why it's worth your time

A Cape Dutch dessert with contested origins, though it's now firmly South African and named, most agree, for the Malvasia wine once used in the sauce. It's a baked sponge of apricot jam and butter, drowned in hot cream sauce that soaks through while it's still in the oven. The good version is gooey and collapses on the spoon; the bad one is dry cake pretending. Order it after a braai — anywhere from a Cape Town bistro to a Winelands farm restaurant — with custard or ice cream.