Manager’s Report November 2011

I can’t begin to describe how hot it’s been during the past month. We’ve had some rain, but we are still in need of some heavy rains – especially to fill up the waterholes for the summer. The heat is so intense that the newly formed grass is already starting to turn yellow again. The animals are still looking great and it is that time of the year when impalas are the centre point of attention again. Yes, it’s baby boom time in the bush! It is interesting to know that impalas usually wait until the first November rains before giving birth. Most of the herbivores have little ones running around, so one hears a lot of “oh shame” or “ah cute” from the guests on game drive.

WILD PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Stalking Leopard by Jacqueline and Ronald Boevé, Netherlands

It’s bigger and definitely better! You’ve guessed right. We’ve made our waterhole on the open area bigger. If you where watching the webcam on the twentieth of this month, you would have seen the TLB working on the waterhole. You might ask: “Why?” Well, we said: “Why not?” We’ve had guests staying at our lodge, asking where exactly the waterhole is located as it was difficult to see from the lodge. We also noticed that when a big herd of elephants came to drink water, most of it was finished by the time they left. As some of you might know, the Kruger National Park is closing up some of their waterholes and making others bigger. This is not a bad idea at all. In the past when there were no man-made waterholes, the animals had to walk longer distances in search of food and water. But in the last few years it was thought to be a good idea to attract animals to certain areas by creating artificial waterholes and dams. Extensive research on the subject has shown that this is not ideal. Yes it did work, but some would say it actually worked too well. The animals stopped moving around and stayed in the same areas. This resulted in overgrazing, which left large areas barren. So by closing some of the waterholes, animals will need to move around once again and not overgraze certain areas. We have gone the same route as Kruger. We have stopped pumping water into some of the existing waterholes and have made the waterhole in front of lodge a bit bigger, so as to compensate in this regard. We also made them deeper. Over the years waterholes fill up with mud, causing it to no longer hold water very well. The TLB was used to remove all the old mud from the bottom and in the case of the open area waterhole, to enlarge it and use the mud to create a dam wall. Whilst we had the TLB here we also did a lot of road maintenance. For seven days we had it on site, fixing both dams and roads. As for the roads, most areas are very sandy, so when we have a lot of rain, the water flowing down the road will pick up sand particles and wash them away. Every second year or so, we make mitre drains, consisting of a speed bump with a drain next to the speed bump, diverting the water flow off the road. This helps prevent our roads from washing away. It is a lot of hard work, but it was great fun to get out into the bush for the week. We had some excitement when elephants had fun chasing us around the yellow TLB!

As you have read, we were hard at work this month, with everything that we are trying to complete before the big summer rains. We also have a team of eight professional bush clearers working on our open areas. Again, some might ask why we are removing bushes and alien shrubs. Sometimes, if the balance is not 100% percent, you will find that some alien plant species will take over an area, smothering the indigenous species. Over the past few years the open areas have been taken over by spike thorns and other alien plants. This particular species will grow in thick walls, not allowing animals to move through them, leaving an area that is underutilized, with no animals around. The other downside is that spike thorns itself have a very high tannin content, making them very bitter. Most animals will not eat this plant unless they are forced to during times of serious drought. So by opening up the vegetation we will start seeing a lot more plains game moving around the lodge and northern sectors of the property. In the past, controlled fires used to sort out these plants, but we are not that keen to burn this area. Firstly, it weakens the grass and secondly, we are not comfortable having a fire so close to the lodge. It is better to get a team of professional bush clearers to cut out all the unpalatable vegetation, leaving all the better tree species to flourish.

Congratulations to our staff members who celebrated their birthdays during the month of November. May the year ahead be filled with good health, happiness and all the best!

Louis celebrated his birthday on the 21st of this month. He is our barman and you would have noticed him serving drinks around the lodge.

Feitah celebrated her birthday on the 23rd of this month. She is little Etienne’s nanny and always has a smile on her face.

This month Chef Linda shares a delicious dessert with us.

Treacle Tart, served with peanut praline and coffee liqueur cream

Treacle Tart, served with peanut praline and coffee liqueur cream

Crust:

• 500g soft butter
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups cake flour

Cream the butter and sugar, mix in the eggs and flour and press into muffin pans.

Filling:

• 630g golden syrup
• 12 slices of white bread, crumbed
• 2 zested lemons
• 1 ½ tbsp. lemon juice

Warm up the sugar, mix with the bread crumbs (the mixture should be thick, not runny)
Add the lemon juice and zest. Spoon into the crust and bake at 180° C, until the crust is golden and the treacle is still sticky.
Add a dollop of coffee liqueur cream and peanut praline, serve and enjoy!

Well, that’s all from my side this month. Have a good one!

Wayne Dovey

Manager’s Report October 2011

October turned out to be another great month at Elephant Plains! We’ve already had some rain, which speeded up the process of the vegetation becoming greener. The trees have all got their bright, brand new cover of leaves for the summer. The grass still need a bit more follow up rains though. But as it is still the beginning of the rainy season, the grass still has plenty of time to grow lush and green. As always during the start of the rainy season, we get some violent thunderstorms with a lot of lighting and little rain. At this time of the year, we run the risk of a lighting strike that could ignite the bush, causing bush fires. After all the noise, we usually only receive a few millimetres of rain. This is just enough to settle the dust, but in the long run, it’s definitely better than nothing! With the ground being slightly damp there is a huge humidity factor present. High humidity levels can quickly become unbearable. But most of our guests love the heat, especially when they have winter temperatures back home. There is nothing like returning from holiday with a golden tan and therefore our guests are making a lot of use of the swimming pools. They are not just for cooling off, though! Both pools have a stunning view of the open area with the waterhole in front of the camp. Sitting in or next to the pool, they get to see a lot of game coming to drink at the waterhole. What more could one ask for? On many days the elephants stand in the dry riverbed just below the rooms and feed for hours, giving our guests the experience of a lifetime, from the privacy of our luxury suites. We also had the wild dogs kill some impala on our open area, which also made for a great sighting!

WILD PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Leopard by Robin Hester, South Africa (Elephant Plains Guest)

I was out in the bush myself this month again and boy, did we have some excellent sightings. I drive on special request from return guests. Being a keen photographer myself I would like to share some tips on wildlife photography and cameras. Our guides are all well trained in positioning the vehicles in order for guests to have the best possible viewing opportunities. They also consider the angle of the sun and if only one side of the vehicle has a good view, they would re-position it later on so that the other side can have the same quality sighting. Now, there are some people that have top of the range equipment and yes, they do get beautiful pictures with all the massive lenses and fancy bodies. But if you are not a professional photographer, there are some things to consider when going on holiday. At Elephant Plains we will safely get you up close and personal to the animals. So when you leave here with award winning pictures, you will still be able to brag, even though you might not have the biggest lens on the market. If you still don’t believe me, then have a look on our website at our guest photo gallery. Most of these pictures were taken with average cameras and lenses. If you are in a sighting and not sure what settings would work best, be sure to ask one of our guides, who would be able to help you with the appropriate settings. According to my opinion, rather go for a simple body and try to spend a bit more on the lens. For this, Canon and Nikon have lenses that are ideal for our area and it is all that we use for our photography. Because we get close enough to the animals you need nothing bigger for amateur photography. The one lens form Canon is the 70-300 and the Nikon lens is the 80-200. These are both excellent lenses that make any camera body’s pictures look fantastic. Sigma also has a 70-300 lens that is cheaper than the other two lenses, but with good light you will still get great photos.

We are continuing with our maintenance work on the rooms. Whenever we have a chance, with a room being open for a day or two, we go in, do some spring cleaning, give the decks a coat of varnish and also strip and seal the floors. If all you home owners out there thought that looking after your own house is a tough job, then step aside. Trying to maintain a whole lodge to the highest standard possible is quite another story! Most people think that working out in the bush at a game lodge is a holiday job, where it is all fun and games. But when things go wrong, as they sometimes do, we need to sort it out a.s.a.p. The challenge of this is that the nearest hardware store is about an hour and a half away!

As I have mentioned before, we have three junior rangers working here. Francois and Dawie did their EcoTraining field guide course last year and then came to Elephant Plains for their six month lodge practical. We liked them so much that we employed them full time and next year they will also be able to start guiding. Pieter was our newest EcoTraining recruit and he just finished his six month practical with us. He is now going to Mashatu in Botswana for his final course and then he will also return to Elephant Plains. We are excited to welcome him back on a permanent basis!

We did not have any staff who celebrated their birthdays this month. But we did have a very special lady’s birthday. Mrs Margie Swart celebrated her birthday on the 6th of this month. We truly hope you had a fantastic day and have many more years of happiness, love and fond memories when visiting Elephant Plains.

Chef Roxanne shares her delicious Tipsy Tart, an all-time favourite.

Tipsy Tart with Brandy Cream

Chef Roxanne's delicious Tipsy Tart

(Makes 24)

Ingredients

• 10 ml Bicarbonate Of Soda
• 250 g Chopped Dates
• 200 g Glazed Cherries, cut in half
• 500 ml Brown Sugar
• 3 cups Flour
• 10 ml Baking Powder
• 500 ml Boiling Water
• 250 g Raisins
• 250 g Butter
• 4 Eggs
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 cup Nuts, chopped

Method

• Grease 2 muffin pans and preheat the oven to 180°C
• Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the water and pour over the dates, mix well and leave to cool down.
• Mix in the raisins and cherries.
• Whisk butter and sugar together and mix in the eggs.
• Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder together and mix with egg mixture.
• Stir the nuts in.
• Spoon in muffin pans and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown but not dry, pour the sauce over.

Sauce

• 3 cups Sugar 500 ml Water
• 30 ml Butter 10 ml Vanilla Essence
• 8 tots Brandy
• 500 ml Water
• 10 ml Vanilla Essence

Boil all the ingredients together and then pour over the baked tarts.

Brandy Cream

• 2 Tots Brandy
• 500ml Cream

Whisk the cream to stiff peaks and then fold in the brandy. Garnish the tarts.

Serve and enjoy!

Well, that’s all from my side this month. Have a good one!

Wayne Dovey

Manager’s Report September 2011

The year is slowly drawing to an end and as I am writing this I can almost not believe it myself! Three more months and we’re in 2012. We have already had one or two storms that came roaring over the Drakensberg, thinking that we were going to have a massive rainstorm. But with all the wind we only got a few drops out of the whole show! It still made me happy to see the massive black clouds that could potentially have dropped its first load of rainwater on us! We are eagerly awaiting the first big summer rains. On the one hand this excites me, but on the other hand these lighting storms involve huge bolts of electricity hitting the ground. Once this happens, bush fires can start and spread within seconds. Fires in dry areas with huge amounts of combustible materials are very dangerous. I guess this is Mother Nature’s way of telling us that she is far more powerful than we will ever be and that we should always respect her. That being said, our fire fighting equipment is on standby and we can be on our way to assist at a bush fire in a couple of minutes.

We have been seeing good game during the past month. A few of the waterholes are now dry as a bone and those still holding water have been well utilized by all the animals in the immediate area. We even had a herd of a thousand buffalos drinking at the waterhole in front of the lodge! There are plenty of breeding herds of elephants that also come to drink in front of the lodge. I am sure that our Africam viewers find this very entertaining. On an average day we have about five herds of elephants feeding around the lodge at any given time, which makes bush walks a bit of a challenge some days. We finally had the two Tsalala female lions bring their new cubs into the area, but this later turned into a drama. I am sure that Morné will tell you more about this in his report.

The lodge is starting to look all clean and green, with a few paint jobs that are done and the bigger trees having lost all their leaves. I cannot tell you how happy I am that the leaf shedding episode is over! I just could not keep up with the August winds and the amount of leaves that can fall in a few seconds. One minute the wooden decks would be spotless and when I inspect the area again, it would be covered in fallen leaves – usually just before the game drive vehicles return from morning drive!

We did a bit of maintenance on all the sprinklers surrounding the lodge. As the grass is now once again starting to grow, it needs more water, especially during the warm summer months. We can already see the difference in the greener, lusher lawns. It is amazing how nature responds to the warmer weather and we can see it in the growth of the plants and flowerbeds all around the lodge.

Pieter Dannhauser, one of our junior rangers, is writing his F.G.A.S.A 1 exams this month. F.G.A.S.A. stands for Field Guides Association of South Africa. This is a theoretical exam to test your all over knowledge of the bush. We wish him all the best! A lot of people are of the opinion that field guiding (rangers) is a holiday job. That might have been the case twenty odd years ago, but today it is like any other profession. It takes a few years, a lot of exams and dedication, as well as practical experience to be able to say that you are a qualified field guide.

Those of you who regularly read our Sightings Updates on the Elephant Plains Big 5 Blog would have noticed that we do not give rhino updates any longer. This will now also be the case with Morné’s monthly Rangers Report. If there are rhinos on the webcam, we will also move the camera away, until they are gone. Rest assured that all our rhinos are still doing well and is in tip top shape. These are just precautionary steps we are taking to ensure that they stay that way. I think you would agree that we should all do our bit to keep our rhinos safe.

This month we had four of our staff members celebrating their birthdays.

Linky, who is one of our cleaning ladies, celebrated her birthday on the 5th of this month. Merriam, a small yet cheerful lady, who helps to keep the lodge area clean, celebrated her day on the 11th.Saphia, one of our cooks who work her heart out in the kitchen, in order to provide all the delicious food, celebrated her birthday on the 11th as well. Onnie, who helps us in the dining areas as a waiter, celebrated her birthday on the 16th. We hope that they all had great birthdays and that the year ahead would be filled with good health, happiness and all the best there is!

Chef Linda's delicious Oatmeal Crunchies

Chef Linda will share this delicious Oatmeal Crunchies recipe with us. These treats are kept at the Coffee station so that guests can nibble on them throughout the day!

Oatmeal Crunchies Recipe

• 4 cups Oats
• 2 cups Coconut
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 cups Flour
• 50ml Syrup
• 400g Butter
• 30ml Bicarbonate of Soda
• 6ml Salt

Melt the butter and syrup together. Mix the oats, coconut, sugar and flour together with the bicarbonate and salt. Add the butter mixture to this and combine well. Roll into balls, compressing them a bit to hold their shape, and place on a greased tray. Press down slightly with a fork and bake @ 180 °C until nicely browned, about 10- 12 minutes per batch. Place on a cooling rack, they will still be soft, but will set as they cool down.

Make a cup of your favourite coffee or tea, serve and enjoy!

Well, that’s all from my side this month. Have a good one!

Wayne Dovey

Manager’s Report August 2011

The long, icy claws of the cold season are slowly retracting, with the exception of the odd cold front passing through just to remind us that the ice queen has not quite given up her season yet. I can truly say that I am ecstatic to know that we are now going into spring. A lot of people love winter. I, on the other hand, have to say that winter is my least favourite season. There is nothing as great as jumping out of bed on summer mornings and not freezing, or to be able to sleep with all the windows open and to hear a thunderstorm roaring over the mountain towards you. I also love the smells that rise from deep under the ground once the rainwater seeps into the soil. But winter is not all that bad in the sense that the game viewing is usually out of this world. This month our lion and leopard sightings have been back to the good old days. You might ask what the good old days were… Well, with all the upsets of new male leopards moving into the area we had females running around, trying to save cubs, and therefore doing a bit of a disappearing act on us. So we still got to see leopards, but in the old days we would see anything between five and nine leopards in one drive. This month, we once again had eight different leopards in one drive! As I am still available to do game drives on special requests from guests, I was back in the saddle for eight days this month. It was great! We didn’t have one drive that we returned to camp without someone getting really great photographs. The one highlight was the sighting we had with one of Kurula’s leopard cubs. They are so relaxed with the cars and really provide us with entertaining sightings. We had the female cub resting on a fallen over tree, with the full moon rising behind her. This was one of my best sightings ever at Elephant Plains!

A Bateleur sitting in the tree

The lodge is starting to take on a new, fresh look once again. Washing all the dust off and giving a few coats of paint always bring a place back to life. Spring cleaning, I would guess! Every day brings me new ideas and challenges, trying to improve the lodge and making it feel as if it is a home away from home for our guests. We bought two new Land Cruisers this month. The one got converted into a game viewing vehicle and the other is a station wagon. We will be using the station wagon for airstrip pickups and drop offs, especially because the weather does not always play nice during summer time. There will be no more “putting on a poncho to race up to the airstrip” and sending guests off half wet to their next destination. It is a closed top, so we can keep everyone dry and happy. On the extremely hot days, there will be air conditioning to make the drive more pleasant. Of the four game viewers we now have two Land Cruisers and two Land Rovers in our fleet. You might ask but why? As game drives are our main business, it is important to make sure that our guests are comfortable and that the drive takes place without hassles. The game viewers are used for at least six hours every day and therefore we cannot use old, worn out vehicles. They are work horses and will go anywhere and do anything for 365 days of the year, every year. So we need to keep them in tip-top condition. Although we only use three rangers and three vehicles at any given time, all four our rangers have their own vehicles. So when one of the rangers go on leave, the vehicle also gets some “time off”. This arrangement also ensures that our rangers and trackers are responsible for looking after their vehicles.

We also bought a diesel trailer. Being out in the bush, in the middle of nowhere, sometimes proves difficult when in urgent need of supplies. So now, if we struggle to get a diesel delivery, we can just fill the diesel trailer and our game drive vehicles can still keep going! These little things make life a little less stressful out in the bush.

I must say that all the new staff members have found their feet and the lodge is running very smoothly. Willie and Francois had to do their Advanced Rifle Handling and VPDA evaluations this month. These two qualifications are compulsory, if they want to be able to perform bush walks as lead rifle. It is very intense, as one has to shoot fifteen rounds at certain targets with no mistakes (with a 458 calibre!). When you are on foot in the bush there is no room for mistakes. If you are faced with a charge from a dangerous animal, you only get one chance. Part of the exam is a “simulated charge” that one has to shoot. A target of a lion is drawn on a sled and you must be able to shoot it between the eyes, while in motion. This is extremely tough as you also need to shout commands to your “simulated guests” that they need to get behind you, then get onto one knee, aim and shoot. It sounds like a long process, but this must actually happen in a matter of seconds. Now one might wonder what VPDA means. It stands for Viewing Potentially Dangerous Animals, on foot. Rangers are assessed on the way that they approach a dangerous animal. You must walk your evaluator into a Big 5 sighting, without disturbing the animals. So it’s all about approach, wind direction and being aware of your surroundings. All of these are extremely important as there is always a chance of encountering these animals while on bush walk. So in order for our junior rangers, Francois, Dawie and Pieter, to be able to take guests on bush walks as lead rifle, they need to log 50 encounters as second rifle – walking with a qualified guide as first rifle. This is also not an easy task as 50 encounters with the Big 5 is a lot! But they take turns accompanying our senior rangers on walks and when they see one of the Big 5 while on foot, they can log it as an encounter. Not an easy task, but it is all in the name of safety for our lives, as well as our guests. We want to make sure that our guides are not only highly qualified, but also highly capable of handling all situations.

Congratulations to all our staff members who celebrated their birthdays during August. May your year be filled with happiness, laughter and all the best!

8: Hilda
9: Dorries
14:  Precious
18:  Pieter

This month Chef Roxanne shares a delicious brownie recipe with us.

Chocolate Forest Brownies

Chocolate Forest Brownies

200g Butter
200g Dark Chocolate
3 Eggs
210g Castor Sugar
85g Flour
65g Cocoa Powder
80g White Chocolate (Chopped)
80g Milk Chocolate (Chopped)

Chocolate Frosting

500g Chocolate
100ml Cream

Method

Preheat oven to 180°c.
Grease a square baking tin, 20cm by 20cm.
Melt the Butter and Dark Chocolate together.
Beat the Eggs and the Sugar together for 10 minutes or until the mixture is light and creamy.
Mix the Flour, Cocoa Powder and Chopped Chocolate together.
Fold all the mixtures together.
Pour into the greased baking tin and spread the mixture out evenly.
Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the Brownies are cooked but not dry.
Melt the Chocolate and mix in the cream, then spread the mixture over the brownies, leave to cool and set.
Slice the brownies into squares and then garnish with Chocolate Flakes and Black Cherries.

Serve and enjoy!

Well that’s all from my side this month. Have a good one!

Wayne Dovey

Manager’s Report July 2011

It is safe to say that we have flown past the middle of the year. Last time I looked, it was March and now we’re already in August. It is very true what they say… time flies when you’re having fun, hey? With it being school holidays, we were kept busy with all the families and their children who, I am sure, would have plenty of awesome animal stories to tell when they get back to school and their friends. Despite the cold mornings, game viewing has still been pretty amazing. Guests got to see three male lions interact on a giraffe kill, as they weren’t from the same pride. On another occasion they were treated to sightings of some new male lions in the area. These seem to be the Matimba pride from Manyeleti Game Reserve. I sincerely hope that they do not hang around for too long: the lion population has just started recovering after a two year struggle due to new males coming into the area, killing previous cubs. We currently have quite a collection of animals in camp: EP lodge is home to three big Nyala bulls and a grand total of seven Bushbuck (including a very small youngster). They enjoy staying in camp, as there is always enough food and the chances of a predator sneaking up on them, are relatively slim. One can already start seeing a change in the morning light. Last month at six it was still dark outside, but now you are already able to see a bit of light just before six in the morning. Next month this time it will start to warm up and slowly the cycle continues…

For the time being, I have not been doing game drives as I am still finding my feet as General Manager. I must say that I am enjoying this new challenge. But I am still available on request and will be driving the ODP group of photographers in August. Our new ranger Willie is now behind the wheel and he is doing very well for himself. He had a couple of days to learn the roads. I can truly say that in an area like the Sabi Sand Wildtuin a lot of roads look the same, with the exception of one or two open areas. But he impressed us all by learning the roads in record time!  It always sounds difficult for a ranger to learn roads in a few days, but once you know where north and south is, the rest all falls into place. There is a backup plan, should new rangers temporally get disorientated. This backup plan is called our trackers. All our trackers know the area so well that they will be able to find their way home even if they get dropped in the middle of nowhere! Atasja is also doing a great job in the African Health Spa and we’ve already received a lot of compliments on her treatments. The house that we built for Willie and Atasja is now completed and they have settled in nicely into their new home.

Hooded vulture taking flight on Wetpatch

With all the hard work that Morné and Francois have put into the airstrip, we can now safely say that it is open and up and running to receive charter planes yet again. A lot of long hours went into redoing the airstrip, as I am sure the guys will be able to confirm!  We also added a cement turning block for the planes and we are sure that all of the work that went into upgrading it will be very well received. It is always fantastic to pick guests up from our own airstrip. I personally think that flying in to the lodge puts your whole safari experience into another dimension. Guests are able to experience the bush from the air and a lot of them are lucky enough to even spot some animals while flying in. The other positive is obviously also the travelling time to the lodge – approximately 2 hours from Johannesburg to the airstrip, or a quick 20 minute flight from Nelspruit. Add to that the two minutes it takes from there to the lodge, and voilà, no travel-tired guests!

We would also like to welcome Chef Linda van Heerden to the team. She will be working alongside Roxanne in the kitchen. We wish her all the best and we’re glad that she decided to join our team. I have tasted some of her Blackforest Brownies and they are pretty good, so I might just gain a bit of weight…

As you would have picked up during the last two reports, we have had a number of staff turnovers during the past three months. A high staff turnover is usually the norm in the game lodge industry and we were spoiled to have a lot of staff that stayed five years and longer. But we have embraced these changes and I am excited about all the new appointments that we’ve made. These guys once again seem to be in it for the long run.  I believe that we once again have a wonderful, dynamic team that would do their utmost best to deliver excellent service and make your stay unforgettable.  Come and experience it!

Congratulations to all our staff members who celebrated their birthdays during the month of July. May the year ahead be filled with good health, happiness and all the best there is!

22 – Phissy Thibela
24 – Dawie Jacobs
25 – Willie Woest
29 – Wayne Dovey

This month, Chef Roxanne shares a delicious Pumpkin Fritter recipe with us. It is an old time, traditional South African favourite that would add flavour to any main meal.

Pumpkin Fritter

Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 4 cups of mashed pumpkin
• 8 teaspoons of baking powder
• 8 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk

Method

• Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together.
• Mix the eggs with the milk and in turn, with the dry ingredients.
• Drop tablespoons of the mixture into the preheated hot oil and deep fry for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Drain very well on some kitchen towels.

Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups cream
• Pinch of salt

Boil all the ingredients together until the sauce becomes thick and syrupy. Pour the sauce over the cakes just before serving. Serve and enjoy!

Well, that’s all from my side this month. Have a good one!

Wayne Dovey