The Kitchen Garden Central Otago, Bannockburn, Cromwell (2026)

23/06/2026

I love winter and I especially love winter flavours.

This particular recipe has been on repeat all though these colder months and it’s so super easy that I felt you all needed it in your repertoire too.

Brown Butter Apple Cake-Gluten Free

195grm butter
240grm brown sugar
3 eggs
187grm Brown Rice Flour
90grm Almond Meal
2tsp baking powder
2tsp cinnamon
1 1/2tsp cardamom
2 Apples-thinly sliced
In a small pot add in butter and melt stirring occasionally. Keeping an eye on it reduce temperature to medium and keep cooking till the milk solids have turned a nice toasty brown, remove from the heat and pour into your cake mixing bowl place into the fridge and chill till solid again.

Preheat oven to 160’C. Grease and line a high sided slice tin.

Remove mixing bowl from fridge add in the sugar and beat till light and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time making sure to scrape down the sides between each egg.

Fold in all dry ingredients and spoon into your slice tin, top with slices of apple and place into oven for 35-40mins or till skewer comes out clean.

Nothing beats whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce but you do what you like.

21/06/2026

The holiday is done and I’m back into it!!!

First day back in the kitchen I’m back into it with a couple corporate deliveries and a couple platters. And boy does it feel nice to be back.

It was nice to be able to spend a couple weeks relaxing and just ticking along nicely in these cold winter days, I spent a week out in the garden before the weather turned enough for me to head inside. I didn’t get away I’m saving that for a couple weeks time when I’m heading out with dad for a tramp.

It was a gentle ease back into work with a regular clients delivery with a slight change in their normal order, the request was for finger food style lunch as they were going to be on the move and wanted something easy to handle.

On the menu for the day
🎃Roast pumpkin +Feta Filo
🐖Pork Fennel Scrolls
🍞Focaccia Bits
🐓Miso Soya Chicken Skewers
🍰Brown Butter Apple Caramel cake

All the good winter flavours served bite size

Do you have a need for lunch on the go, why not get in contact.

Website
https://www.thekitchengardencentralotago.com/chef-services-central-otago/corporate-catering

Contact Us
[email protected]

Call Us
027 434 7299

17/06/2026

A wee fantail or piwakawaka hanging out with me while I was out in the garden over the weekend.

15/06/2026

As the shortest day draws closer, it was time for me to get the garlic for the next season into the ground.

And after spending a week in the garden clearing the beds out, it was nice to be putting something back into the ground. The winter so far has been quite mild in comparison to this time last year and the ground has been nice and soft. I’ve managed to get 350 cloves in giving me plenty of stock for resowing and use in the kitchen.

Have you got your garlic in yet?

09/06/2026

This week has seen me out in the garden spending time in my happy place just ticking away all the jobs that have mounted up over the last couple months.

First on the agenda was racking up all the leaves that have fallen, storing them away for getting onto the garden come spring. I look at the fallen leaves as garden gold because gathering them is ticking off 2 things-tidy them away and also gathering great carbon for the vege gardens.

Next on the list is getting the garlic into the ground, I am alittle behind but not by much compared to last year so I will be repeating the same thing as last season which was sowing them across multiple beds. I cleared the beds it’s going into last week and I topped off them with broken down manure and compost finishing with a small amount of garden mix. I’ll scattered sheep pellets for a slow release and once the garlic starts to pop up I’ll cover with pea straw to suppress the weeds.

Lastly I’ll begin the massive tidy up of the flower beds and a little reconfigured of some of the plants. Things got abit hectic in some of the spaces as I as always didn’t pay attention to the direction on spacing😆which isn’t usual for me. I’ve got a couple shrubs that need to get in the ground plus I need to replace a couple olives that didn’t survive the summer.

What I love about the garden is that it is so forgiving to the lack of attention, it is there waiting for me when I get to it and as long as I don’t put pressure on myself and get stress about the mess, it will be there when I get to it.
Winter is for the quiet reflections and a slower pace. Rest relax and renew.

Address

Bannockburn
Cromwell

Telephone

+64273847886

Website

http://thekitchengardencentralotago.com/

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