I haven’t made nor eaten malvapoeding in probably 5 years now(the last time was at Sqirl in Silverlake, and after all of the scandals about that restaurant and their health practices and ownership, I think I’m good there), so I figured now is the time to bring it back into my recipe roll. Malvapoeding, pronounced “malva-pudding”, is a South African dessert that consists of a sponge cake, that has an inordinate amount of leavening agent in it, that is soaked in a sweet milk mixture, resulting in a really tender and soft cake that is really MOIST. I said it. I hate that word, I hate using and saying and typing that word, but I said it. How MOIST it is aside(yes, the caps were necessary), it is a really tasty dessert, because the cake itself has almost caramel-like flavors in it, as a byproduct of all of the leavening agents(baking soda specifically) oxidizing the sugars in the cake and almost caramelizing them. I have seen that reaction happen before, when you heat up baking soda with sugar, in things like brittle or cajeta, where the chemicals in the soda react with the heat and the sugar, and cause the sugar to brown faster. Malvapoeding capitalizes on that in both the texture of the cake being very porous, but the caramelization of the cake being fairly present as well. Other things that make malvapoeding so unique include the usage of apricot jam in the batter itself. The additional sugar from the preserves only helps with that aforementioned baking soda-induced caramelization. In the case of this recipe however, I went with yujacha instead.

This recipe literally requires a global ingredient glossary to dissect it, even though it boils down to a soft, fluffy spongecake with a soak. Yujacha is a citrus-y marmalade, popular in Korea. The marmalade usually uses citron, which is a round yellow citrus, and is also called “yuzu” in Japanese, which is what it is definitely more popularly known as. In Korea, they love mixing that marmalade with hot water to make a sort of tea, which can have medicinal benefits(mostly helping with sore throats and coughing) as well as just tastes really good. It is a refreshing beverage on a cold day. Fun fact, I actually brought a gigantic jar of that with me when I filmed Masterchef: Back to Win, just because I experienced dry coughing spells throughout season 10, and didn’t want to risk going through that again. And when I got eliminated, I gifted the jar to Dara, since I was able to freely go get groceries whenever I wanted to, and the poor girl was still locked away in the area we had to live in during the filming of that show(luckily for her, being locked away paid off, so at least there’s that!). But that little tidbit aside, more about yuzu/yuja. Since yuzu is a winter citrus, I felt like it was perfect for this type of gloomy weather. With the cake, I subbed out the apricot jam with yujacha, which is admittedly less sweet, but imparts a more fragrant flavor, and soaked the cake in a mixture of warm milk and the yujacha as well, just to really lock in that gorgeous yuzu flavor. I also used a little olive oil in the cake, for more of that lovely olive oil cake feel!

Makes 8 malvapoeding cakes:
For the batter:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
a pinch of salt
2 eggs
3oz yujacha(yuzu/citron-honey marmalade)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsps baking soda
3/4 tsps baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour

In a bowl, mix all of your ingredients together to form your batter. Fill 8 cupcake liners 2/3 the way full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool before attempting to unmold them.

For the soak:
2/3 cups non-dairy milk
2oz yujacha
A pinch of salt

Bring all of the ingredients to a simmer in a pot. Score the tops of each malvapoeding using a paring or butter knife, and pour 2-3 tbsp of the liquid into each cake, specifically on the spot that you scored them for optimal soaking. Either serve right away, or store in an airtight container in your freezer, making sure to reheat these in the microwave for 1 minute before serving. Malvapoeding are best eaten hot!