POTJIE PUDDING

Almost instant indulgence

For me, the most important part of a pudding potjie is making sure the flat-bottomed potjie you’re baking in is sparkling clean and that there’s enough sauce to moisten it. Take a shortcut with a premix, so you don’t have to think too hard about the quantities of delicate baking in the wilderness and remember your whisk (balloon or electric).

Ingredients

(serves 8)

1 vanilla-flavoured cake premix (We used Ina Paarman’s)

Consult your packaging, we needed: 3 eggs, ½ cup oil, ¼ cup melted butter, 1 cup milk, grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)

SAUCE

1 can evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

1 cup coffee (or hot water if you prefer) 1 tablespoon butter

Here’s how

1 Whisk together the eggs, oil, and butter for 30 seconds at high speed. An electric whisk or even a hand blender will help a lot, although you can prove your muscle endurance with a balloon whisk if you must.

2 Add the milk and whisk again until combined. Stir in the contents of your cake mix and the lemon zest and fold together until just combined.

3 Spoon the batter into a greased flatbottomed potjie (we used a size 3), put the lid on, and ‘bake’ over moderate coals with extra coals on the lid for 45 minutes or until a knife point comes out clean when you press it into the middle of the cake. Ideally, don’t lift the lid before 30 minutes have elapsed, or the cake may collapse in the middle. I find the cooking time outdoors is slightly longer than in the oven, so enjoy the anticipation for a few more minutes before peeking.

4 Melt together all the sauce ingredients, ready for pouring.

5 Poke holes all over the cooked cake with the back of a wooden spoon and immediately pour the hot sauce over it so it can soak in well. Ta-da!

Drive & Camp says Stir a tablespoon of vinegar into the milk to make buttermilk. If lemon and coffee aren’t your cup of tea, you can, of course, stick to plain vanilla or add a splash of your favourite liqueur to the sauce (against the cold, of course).