Best pies Victoria: Whittlesea Bakehouse, Miss Amelie Gourmet, Rolling Pin Pies and Cakes

With golden crispy pastry and piping hot meat, it’s no surprise the pies at this bakery in Melbourne’s north have been voted the best in the country.

Whittlesea Bakehouse’s plain meat pies have been named the best in Australia. Picture: Rob Leeson.

A Whittlesea bakery is celebrating after its popular pies were named the best in Australia.

Whittlesea Bakehouse, which is also known for its award-winning vanilla slices, won the best plain meat pie award at the 33rd Official Great Aussie Pie competition.

About 1500 pies were entered across 20 categories in the competition, which took place last week at the southern hemisphere’s leading food industry trade expo Fine Food Australia in Melbourne.

Whittlesea Bakehouse’s team of bakers, Adrian Caporetto, Michael Valenti and Sarah Baerken, said they were “over the moon” with the accolade.

“Just the recognition from the judges that have been in the industry for a long time is amazing,’ Mr Caporetto said.

He said the secret to making their pies so tasty was having a firm base, nice crispy puff pastry, and a gravy that was soft but not too thick.

Whittlesea Bakehouse’s Adrian Caporetto with the trophy for best Plain Meat Pie at the Official Great Aussie Pie Competition.

“All in all if it has good quality ingredients you won’t have a problem,” Mr Caporetto said.

He said the bakery’s plain pies were by far the most popular item the bakery sold, with thousands snapped up each week.

Mr Caporetto said the bakery’s vanilla slices, voted the best in Victoria, were also still incredibly popular.

“A pie and a vanilla slice, what more can you ask for?” he said.

“It’s like a meal and dessert – they go hand-in-hand together.”

Meanwhile the best gourmet pie was awarded to Miss Amelie Gourmet in Wodonga, for its Chinese BBQ pork belly pie.

Jim Myers, who owns the business with his wife Nicki and friends Ken and Rachel Little, said they were thrilled with the win.

“It’s an authentic Chinese recipe – we make the sauce and the filling for the pie from scratch in our cottage kitchen in Wodonga,” Mr Myers said

Miss Amelie Gourmet pies.

All the businesses’ pies are made manually, with staff making all the fillings using natural ingredients.

“We take pride in our pastry, using real butter,” he said.

“We just put an emphasis on quality.”

Other popular pie flavours include a Thai red duck curry pie and a butter chicken pie.

The business also has cafes in Beechworth and in the Myer Centre in Albury, along with their Wodonga base, where people can sit and have a coffee, pastry and pie in the shop and watch the team at work in the kitchen.

Buddy Bakery in Melton took out the award for best shepherd’s / potato top pie for its steak mushroom and potato pie, while Rolling Pin Pies and Cakes in Ocean Grove took out the best red meat pie.

Competition organiser Dani Lindsay from the Aussie Pie Council said: “The calibre of pies and sausage rolls in this year’s competition has lifted the standard to a new level.

“We are proud to continue elevating an Aussie icon and providing genuine feedback on more than 1500 pies and sausage rolls from around the country.”