Kiwi Cafe is a Gold Coast café run by Tracey, a New Zealander who has called the Gold Coast home for 15 years. The café pairs great coffee with traditional New Zealand sweet treats, baked using recipes straight from Tracey's well-worn Edmonds cookbook — the same one given to her by her sister as a wedding present over 20 years ago.
The idea for Kiwi Cafe came from Tracey's love of baking and the realisation that, with so many Kiwis living on the Gold Coast, there was an appetite for a genuine taste of home. Everything is made the traditional 'kiwi' way, with no modern shortcuts, aside from adaptations for allergies — bringing back the classic biscuits, cakes and slices many New Zealanders grew up with.
There's a personal story behind the business too: Tracey's own mother, Carole, taught her to bake before passing away when Tracey was just 16. Kiwi Cafe is dedicated to her memory, carrying her love of baking and sweet treats forward for Tracey's own family and customers to enjoy.
Kiwi Cafe brings the flavours of New Zealand's home baking tradition to the Gold Coast, run by Tracey, a Kiwi who has lived in the area for the past 15 years with her partner Brian and their two teenage sons.
Before starting Kiwi Cafe, Tracey spent much of her working life in an office, dreaming of running her own business without quite knowing what that business should be. After courses, seminars and plenty of self-reflection, she landed on a simple idea: build a business around whatever genuinely made her smile. For Tracey, that was baking — specifically, the traditional New Zealand cakes, biscuits and slices she grew up with, made from recipes in her much-loved Edmonds cookbook, a wedding gift from her sister more than 20 years ago that's still in daily use, pages stuck together and all.
With a sizeable Kiwi community living on the Gold Coast, Tracey saw an opportunity: a café built around great coffee, paired with the sweet treats so many expat New Zealanders remember from childhood. She tested the idea on her Kiwi friends, who immediately asked for classics like Louise cake and Afghans — and the answer, unsurprisingly, was yes to both. Kiwi Cafe's philosophy is straightforward: no modern reinventions, no unnecessary substitutions (aside from allergy-friendly adaptations), just the traditional recipes made the way they were meant to be made.
The treats menu reads like a greatest-hits list of New Zealand baking. Afghans — rich, chocolatey biscuits given extra crunch from added cornflakes and topped with chocolate icing and a walnut — are also available gluten free. The Triple Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake layers chocolate ganache through a decadent fudge cake, while the Louise Cake combines raspberry jam, a soft coconut meringue and a rich shortbread base. For something with a nostalgic edge, the Lolly Cake brings together a malt biscuit and condensed milk base studded with eskimo lollies — described by Tracey as a genuine childhood favourite. Rounding out the menu are the Caramel Slice, layering creamy caramel and chocolate icing over shortbread, and the Ginger Crunch, a buttery shortbread base topped with a sweet, spicy ginger icing.
Behind the business sits a deeply personal story. Tracey's mother, Carole, taught her to bake before passing away when Tracey was just 16. Kiwi Cafe is dedicated to Carole's memory — what Tracey describes as her mother's 'little slice of heaven' — carrying forward a love of baking that's now been passed down through the family.
For bookings and queries, Kiwi Cafe can be reached directly by phone or email, and the café keeps in touch with customers through Facebook and Instagram, where its baking and behind-the-scenes moments are shared. For Kiwi expats missing a taste of home — or anyone curious to try classic New Zealand baking for the first time — Kiwi Cafe offers a genuine, homemade version of the treats many grew up with.