Ten Cross Shoppe in Makhanda is rarely empty, but during lunch time the place is packed, especially on a Friday – because then it’s pancake day.
This shop – something between a home industry, coffee shop, tea garden and farm stall – focuses on a different product fresh from the kitchen on every day of the week. On Mondays it’s pasta, Tuesdays jaffles, Wednesdays vetkoek and Thursdays quiche.
“We started with the pancake day and soon picked up that customers like routine – it has meant terrific growth for the business! We put up a sign in the street and started advertising, and now we are struggling to keep up. We make 700 pancakes every Friday,” says owner Chantelle van Eyssen.
The idea for the shop started small. Chantelle worked as an office administrator at the Department of Economics at Rhodes University for 12 years, but she always baked whenever she got the chance.
“I started baking milk tarts on order, up to 60 in one go. About two years before the onset of the pandemic, the milk tart venture took. I have a passion for and I worked my way through several recipes until I was satisfied that I had developed the very best recipe: crunchy on the outside yet sweet and juicy inside.”
