Melbourne Food and Wine Festival chefs reveal their baking and shopping secrets
As the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival approaches, the city’s top bakers reveal where they go for the best bread, pastries, cakes and more.
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Melbourne is firmly in the mix to be considered the world’s baking and cakes capital, with the city’s multiculturalism, access to fresh produce and “passionate, talented chefs” elevating its status.
To celebrate Baker’s Dozen – a new and free Melbourne Food and Wine Festival event taking over Federation Square on April 1-2 – we asked our city’s top bakers to share their most impressive dishes, and reveal their favourite bakeries across the state.
RELATED: Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2023 program revealed
AUDREY ALLARD
Holy Sugar, Northcote – owner and pastry chef
What makes Melbourne the world’s baking and cakes capital?
The mixture of Melbourne’s infamous cold climate combined with such passionate, talented chefs has definitely got something to do with it.
Your favourite Victorian baked goods …
Bread: Baker Bleu (Caulfield North and Prahran)
Cakes or cupcakes: Beatrix Bakes whole cakes (North Melbourne)
Croissants: Monforte (Carlton North)
Pastries: To Be Frank Bakery (Collingwood)
Doughnuts: Pecks Road (Caroline Springs)
What is Melbourne’s best-kept secret suburban bakery?
Hands down Babka Bakery Cafe in Fitzroy. Their lemon brûlée tart is amazing.
What should we try?
Trigona panoramatos. It’s a Greek pastry made with phyllo (filo) pastry and filled with creamy custard. Apparently it’s just made it on to the list of top 10 desserts in the world.
Go-to item to impress?
Baked lemon tart is always a crowd pleaser
What role did baking play in your upbringing? Who taught you to bake?
My great grandmother was a pastry chef, I remember sitting in my granny’s kitchen while she would work her magic. I still use her ginormous rolling pin on all my tart bases in the shop.
Your favourite family dish handed down to you ...
My nana on my dad’s side would bake me lemon tarts for my birthday using the wild lemon bush we had on the farm growing up. It’s a recipe I don’t make in the shop, as I feel as though I would be doing a disservice to the recipe if I didn’t use the lemons from that tree.
GARETH WHITTON
Tarts Anon, Cremorne and Collingwood – co-owner and pastry chef
What makes Melbourne the world’s baking and cakes capital?
You’d think it would have something to do with the large European communities that helped build Melbourne’s identity. We’ve adopted it and made it our own, and the quality has only increased from there, not to mention the variety. This has bred a competitive market, which is only going to improve what’s on offer.
Your favourite Victorian baked goods …
Bread: Bread Club (North Melbourne, Albert Park)
Cakes or cupcakes: Kitty Bakes (online orders)
Croissants: Lune (Fitzroy, Armadale, Melbourne CBD)
Pastries: Agathe Pâtisserie (South Melbourne)
Doughnuts: Moon (Fitzroy)
What is Melbourne’s best-kept secret suburban bakery?
French Lettuce, Carlton. It’s hardly a secret, just underrated. I loved their stall at the Gleadell Street Market (in Richmond).
What should we try?
Kouign-amann (a French pastry).
Go-to item to impress?
A custard tart, a tarte tatin or a Paris-Brest.
What role did baking play in your upbringing? Who taught you to bake?
Not a huge one. I was always the one out of my siblings to gravitate towards the kitchen, but we were hardly a culinary family. My biggest mentors in baking were Luke Croston and Katrina Kanetani, but all of my baking was restaurant centric up until we started baking at home during lockdowns.
Your favourite family dish handed down to you ...
No family recipes to inherit – but one day, I’m sure I’ll be in charge of making the brandy sauce for family Christmas. That’s still Mum’s gig for now.
FRANCO VILLALVA
To Be Frank, Collingwood – co-founder and pastry chef
What makes Melbourne the world’s baking and cakes capital?
I’m not sure if this is true. But if it is, it is because of its city’s multicultural population. This has brought different tastes and traditions. On the other hand, Melbourne has a great gastronomy, and bakers don’t want to stay in the shadows anymore.
Your favourite Victorian baked goods …
Bread: Red Beard Bakery (Trentham) and Loafer (Fitzroy North)
Cakes or cupcakes: Beatrix Bakes (North Melbourne)
Croissants: Small Batch Roasting Co. (North Melbourne)
Pastries: Small Batch Roasting Co. (North Melbourne) and Monforte (Carlton North)
Doughnuts: Hector’s Deli (Richmond)
What is Melbourne’s best-kept secret suburban bakery?
Monforte (in Carlton North). Giorgia McAllister Forte is great.
What should we try?
Canelé. It is a French pastry that is typically associated with the Bordeaux region of France. The pastry has this unique cylindrical shape, crispy exterior, and soft, custard-like interior. It’s so good when made correctly.
Go-to item to impress?
Panettone, without doubt. It is my obsession at the moment and it is pretty impressive. For the ones who know what it is, panettone it is not the image, flavour or texture of the one you saw, ate or bought from the supermarket. Made in an artisanal way, it is a soft, creamy, delicious, sweet Italian bread that’s normally baked for Christmas. It takes three days to make and it isn’t only about time – you need to follow the fermentation very closely or everything can go wrong. I truly think it is the expression of any baker who loves the trade.
What role did baking play in your upbringing? Who taught you to bake?
Baking wasn’t very present in my childhood. Mum did all the cooking, but I used to help a lot. After going through a few careers, I took the kitchen as my way of living and cooked in fine dining kitchens, Relais & Chateaux and some others alike venues. Later came the baking, as my last shot in hospitality. My friend, Jonathan Valdman, opened his bakery and God it was good. I never tasted bread so delicious. I moved to Bangkok, Thailand, for one and a half years to work in this amazing French bakery and learn the trade. The bakery felt as if I was in France.
Your favourite family dish handed down to you ...
The dish I always make when missing home is a kind of Argentinian shepherd’s pie. My mum makes a mean pastel de papas, which in translation would be potato pie.
APRIL YOONHEE BAE
The Flour Melbourne – founder and pastry chef
What makes Melbourne the world’s baking and cakes capital?
Multiculturalism and passionate artisanal bakers and cake makers. Melbourne has many fantastic small bakeries run by skilled pastry chefs from different parts of the world. They make delicious cakes and baked goods using fresh, local ingredients and unique flavours influenced by their cultural backgrounds.
Your favourite Victorian baked goods …
Bread: Madame Sourdough (Mont Albert North)
Cakes or cupcakes: Beatrix Bakes (North Melbourne)
Croissants: Baguette Studios (North Melbourne)
Pastries: Baker D. Chirico (St Kilda)
Doughnuts: Shortstop Coffee & Donuts (Melbourne CBD)
What is Melbourne’s best-kept secret suburban bakery?
Madame Sourdough.
What should we try?
Conversation tart, a type of pastry made with puff pastry that is filled with frangipane cream and topped with royal icing. It’s one of my favourite classic French desserts that has story and tastes good, but it’s hard to find in Australia.
Go-to item to impress?
Canelé (a French pastry flavoured with rum and vanilla, with a soft custard centre and a caramelised crust).
What role did baking play in your upbringing? Who taught you to bake?
Baking wasn’t a big part of my Korean upbringing, since our cuisine mostly focused on savory dishes and fermented foods, like kimchi and gochujang. However, we still made traditional Korean desserts like rice cakes for special occasions, and those moments of cooking together as a family created a strong sense of connection and belonging. Even though I didn’t grow up baking, I now appreciate how it can bring people together to share in the joy of creating something delicious to enjoy with others. Great chefs I worked with, many good cook books, teachers, and self-teaching (was how I learnt to bake).
Your favourite family dish handed down to you ...
Watermelon Whachae – Korean punch.
BRICE ANTIER
Bread Club, North Melbourne and Albert Park – co-owner and baker
What makes Melbourne the world’s baking and cakes capital?
Undoubtedly a huge part of what makes our baking and food scene in general so great is that we are one of the most diverse and multicultural cities in the world. A thing that stands out in the baking community here is the passion and creativity of our skilled bakers, who are continually experimenting and learning to take their goods to the next level.
Your favourite Victorian baked goods …
We (Bread Club co-owner Tim Beylie and I) are loving our new neighbours, The Flour, for their madeleines and their canelés. We have also been lucky to share a street with Beatrix Bakes for three years – no explanation needed. Tim and I also like to stop by Ket Baker in Wallington after a surf.
What is Melbourne’s best-kept secret suburban bakery?
Surely it’s not a secret to the locals, but if you are headed to Geelong, Born and Bread is delicious.
What should we try?
Our twice-baked hot cross bun where we take a bun, fill it with almond cream and bake it again. This is favourite of those who try it and we will have it at the Baker’s Dozen event (at Federation Square, for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival). Something many people may not have tried is the galette des rois, which we do each year over Christmas. It’s traditionally a treat we have in January in France, but we have made our own version and sell it for people to share over the holidays.
What baked good do you make to impress?
Fougasse (a type of bread typically associated with Provence, France). It can really make a simple spread look so special and people really love to talk about it – it’s the worst-kept entertaining secret. Just put it out with some dips and cheese and you have grazing sorted.
What role did baking play in your upbringing? Who taught you to bake?
Growing up on a farm, I’ve always had a deep connection to fresh ingredients and food. I miss my mum’s ratatouille and have been inspired by that to put it in our pie. Tim is a second-generation baker, so it’s in his blood. We both trained in France but really developed our skills in Australia. A big thing for us has been delivering a light and crunchy baguette from our French heritage, but using sourdough methods.
PATTI CHIMKIRE
Mali Bakes, Thornbury – owner and pastry chef
What makes Melbourne the world’s baking and cakes capital?
For me, Melbourne is like a basket full of delicious groceries from many cultures, beautiful dairy products, and fresh produce. How can we not make the best cakes and pastries in the world?
Your favourite Victorian baked goods …
Bread: Northcote Bakeshop (Northcote) and All Are Welcome (Northcote, Thornbury, Ivanhoe East)
Cakes or cupcakes: Beatrix Bakes (North Melbourne) and Holy Sugar (Northcote)
Croissants: Monforte (Carlton North)
Pastries: Tibi Bakes
Doughnuts: Shortstop Coffee & Donuts (Melbourne CBD)
What is Melbourne’s best-kept secret suburban bakery?
Tammy’s in Preston Market. Her gözleme is the best thing ever.
What should we try?
Pandebono from Arepa Days – a cheese bread, almost biscuit, that’s super delicious.
What baked goods do you make to impress?
Probably layered cake that’s delicious and highly decorated.
What role did baking play in your upbringing? Who taught you to bake?
Baking isn’t something we do in our culture, so I didn’t really bake growing up. It was something I was so excited to learn after moving to Melbourne, and I’m still learning more and more today.
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