Delicious South African dessert recipes

Hurray for National Dessert Day! A great excuse to indulge your sweet tooth with some mouthwatering recipes.

Here are three popular South African desserts for you to try out. My favourite? The peppermint crisp tart - lashings of cream, chocolate, caramel sauce, and biscuits. What's not to like?

Malva pudding

Recipe courtesy of Food24

30ml butter

250ml sugar

2 eggs

30ml vinegar

10ml bicarbonate of soda

60ml smooth apricot jam

500ml cake flour

250ml milk

salt — just a pinch

For the sauce: 500ml evaporated milk

375ml boiling water

375ml sugar

60ml butter

45ml vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease an ovenproof dish with nonstick spray.

In a bowl mix the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, and bicarb together.

Add a pinch of salt, followed by the two eggs.

Add the milk, vinegar, apricot jam, and melted butter. Mix to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake for 55 minutes or until golden brown.

Sauce

Bring the ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring frequently.

Pour the sauce over the pudding as it comes out of the oven.

Serve hot with ice cream or custard.

Malva pudding - a classic South African dessert

Peppermint Crisp tart

Recipe courtesy of Woolworths

This recipe makes one large tart big enough for at least 12 people. It also makes for excellent leftovers.

3 x 250ml tubs of whipping cream

4 x 360g cans of Nestlé Caramel Treat

2 x 200g packets of Bakers Tennis Biscuits

3 x 150g slabs of Nestlé Peppermint Crisp, roughly broken into chunks

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, beat the caramel with a fork to loosen and to ensure a smooth texture.

Gently fold the caramel into the whipped cream, then add most of the chocolate pieces (set aside a cupful for decoration).

Line a 30 x 22 x 6.5 cm dish with a single layer of whole Tennis biscuits. Top with half the caramel mixture, then add another layer of Tennis biscuits. Pour the remainder of the caramel mixture over the second layer of Tennis biscuits.

Sprinkle the last of the Peppermint Crisp chunks over the top. Cover with tin foil and chill for at least seven hours before serving.

My homemade Peppermint Crisp tart

Baked sago pudding

Recipe courtesy of Clover

1 litre (4 cups) full cream milk

187ml (¾ cup) sugar

2ml salt

250ml (1 cup) sago

60ml (4 tablespoons) butter

4 eggs, separated

5ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla essence

Extra butter

Golden syrup or apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Heat the milk, sugar, and salt to boiling point. Add the sago.

Lower the heat and let it simmer on low heat for 20 minutes or until the sago becomes transparent. Stir from time to time.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the butter. Let the mixture cool somewhat.

Beat the egg yolks and the vanilla essence and quickly add to the milk mixture.

Use an electric mixer and stiffen the egg whites and fold them into the sago mixture.

Grease an ovenproof dish with a diameter of 20 cm x 30 cm well with butter.

Spoon the sago mixture into an oven dish. Smooth the top.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top.

Serve hot with golden syrup or apricot jam.