If your family has a sweet tooth and you have a few essential ingredients in your kitchen, you can quickly whip up rising foodie Sebastian Newman’s malva pudding. This classic South African favourite is the ultimate comforting dessert and is perfectly served with custard or cream.
This chef and food stylist has worked on numerous popular television shows, including Expresso and Top Billing. The sweet tooth regularly features a friend or family member on his YouTube cooking series, Bakes With Bas. Newman prepared a mouth-watering malva pudding recipe for the ultimate comfort.
A foodie since his teen days
Newman first took over his mother’s kitchen when he was only 10 years old. Growing up in Elsies River, Cape Town, he remembers the highlight of every Sunday was preparing dessert for his family after church.
The culinary world was always his first choice. “When my 7th-grade teacher asked what I wanted to be one day, I knew my future would be filled with food.
“I’m constantly amazed by how the smell of spices can evoke memories, the way textures like crunchy, smooth, soft and juicy can start a party in your mouth and the taste of things like chocolate, chilli and citrus can take anyone on a journey. And if something tastes really good, it makes you feel pretty good too.”
Shortly after he qualified, Newman worked for a production company as an assistant, food stylist and content producer on television shows such as Expresso Morning Show, Afternoon Express, Top Billing and Weekend Edition.
“I have also been privileged enough to appear on Hectic Nine 9 and have worked for the likes of Jimmy Nevis, as well as Leigh Anne Williams, Zola Nene, Abigail Donnelly, Claire Winstanley, Khanyi Mbau and Jenny Morris.”
Get cooking with this rising star
While he is still carving his way forward, Newman shares his fabulous, fun, and flavourful recipes with his followers on Facebook and Instagram. This sweet tooth chef also has a YouTube video series called Bakes with Bas. In each video, he features either a friend or a family member and prepares a recipe.
“My video series sees me creating an array of dessert items themed around a certain topic with one of my friends or a family member in the industry. The idea is to share an experience with my followers to impart a skill or just to create something they thought might have been too difficult to do.”
Try out his gooey, sweet malva pudding recipe!
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Ingredients
- 200g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp apricot jam
- 150g flour
- 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch salt
- 30g butter
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 100ml milk
- 100g sugar
- 150ml cream
- 100ml water
- 100g butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180ºC.
- Prepare sponge by whisking together eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the apricot jam.
- Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Melt the butter and stir in the vinegar.
- Add to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk and flour. Place into preheated oven for 30-35 min, until cooked through.
- While the sponge bakes, prepare the sauce by boiling together all the ingredients.
- Once the sponge comes out of the oven, poke holes into the sponge and pour over the hot sauce.
- Serve with cream or custard.
