South African Roly-Poly Baked Dessert

Keep this recipe for cold days! Everone loves it, and in South Africa it is a traditional favourite. You must have this at hand, as it is easy and quick and a delight, served as is or with ice cream or custard. Please note that I did two step-by-step photographs, which you'll find if you click on "photos". One shows how to roll up the dough, and the 2nd what the pudding and sauce look like before going into the oven.

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2  cups flour (500 ml)
• 3  teaspoons baking powder (15 ml)
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup butter (1 stick or 125 g or 4 oz)
• 2  eggs, beaten
•  milk, a few tablespoons, see instructions
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
•  apricot jam

• Sauce

• 1 1⁄2 cups boiling water (375 ml)
• 1  cup sugar (250 ml)
• 2  tablespoons butter (30 ml)
• 1  teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F/180 deg Celsius.
2. Grease a suitable oven dish, like a rectangular Pyrex dish.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and rub in the butter. (Can be done in a processor, also the next step).
4. Add the beaten eggs, and then just enough milk, tablespoon by tablespoon, to make a fairly firm dough.
5. It's easy to watch in the processor: as soon as a firm ball forms which is not sticky, but soft, the dough is ready.
6. Roll the dough out quite thinly -- on a surface sprinkled with flour -- and form a rectangle, by cutting off bits and adding it on again -- you know how.
7. Spread the dough with apricot jam.
8. From one of the LONG sides, roll it up like a swiss roll.
9. Cut this roll into 1 inch slices, using a serrated knife such as a bread knife. The jam WILL ooze out.
10. Pack the slices, cut sides up, closely together, in the greased dish. Scoop the jam which oozed out on the surface you used, and just plonk back on to these rolls.
11. In a pot, mix the boiling water (from your kettle), sugar, butter and vanilla and stir until sugar dissolves.
12. With a tablespoon, ladle evenly over the slices of pudding, but beware: you will have more sauce than the baking dish can take. Usually you'll be left with about 3/4 cup. KEEP IT.
13. Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes.
14. When the sizzling pudding comes out of the oven, carefully pour the extra sauce over the centre slices: I find that, when baking, the sauce tends to pool on the sides.
15. Now the hot pudding will absorb much of the leftover sauce in seconds. Use as much or as little as you like.
16. Serve hot, with custard, ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.