Leap year pudding (skrikkeljaar poeding)

A pudding that’s allowed only once every four years? Yes, that’s right. Here is the South African pudding that honours leap year.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup butter (75 gram butter)
  • 1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar
  • 2 jumbo eggs (or 3 smaller eggs), separated
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla (optional)
  • 1 cup (250 ml) flour
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon / 1 ml salt
  • 1/3 cup (85 ml) milk
  • 1/4 cup apricot jam (approximately)
  • 1 cup (250 ml) milk (to use in second half of baking process)
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) castor sugar

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180ºC
  2. Cream the slightly softened butter, sugar and egg yolks together until it is light and fluffy. Mix optional vanilla into the mixture.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into the butter and sugar mixture and add 1/3 cup (85 ml) of milk and combine.
  4. Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 180ºC (until baked through and a skewer comes out clean).
  5. While the cake is baking, whisk the egg whites while adding castor sugar bit by bit, until you have turned it into a meringue mixture.
  6. Remove the pudding from the oven, but do not switch the oven off yet.
  7. Spread the jam over the cake to cover it lightly. Pour the 1 cup (250 ml) of milk over the pudding, and the cover with the meringue mixture.
  8. Return to oven and bake about 20 minutes, until the meringue starts to darken.

Serve warm.