Take a trip along Victoria’s ‘snot block highway’

Six of Victoria’s vanilla slice bakers discuss the dessert’s best features and rising popularity. Discover the bakeries along a 450-kilometre journey from Melbourne to Ouyen.

Crispy, creamy, flaky, fluffy and fresh are the buzzwords Victoria’s bakers use to describe the perfect vanilla slice.

The aforementioned bakers can be found along a 450-kilometre journey from Melbourne to Ouyen, a “snot block highway” for passionate vanilla slice eaters.

Country Cob Bakery Kyneton assistant manager Leah Coulson with vanilla slices. Picture: Zoe Phillips

The vanilla slice tasting tour begins along the Calder Freeway at Kyneton’s award-winning Country Cob Bakery, which sells out of its 150 slices by 1pm most days.

Co-owner and baker Ryan Khun has a sharp focus on pastry and icing.

“It needs very good pastry. It has to be crunchy, crispy, and not too thick, not too thin, and the icing itself needs to be very thin too,” he said.

“The main part is the custard itself, which has to be not overly sweet, but fluffy and creamy.”

Country Cob Bakery won Australia’s Apprentice Best Vanilla Slice in 2017 and placed second in 2018 and 2019. It was also Australia’s Best Vanilla Slice second place in 2023.

A short 10-minute drive from Kyneton is bluestone-cladded Malmsbury, which started as a service centre for people bound for the goldfields in the 1800s.

Malmsbury Bakery owner Anthony Allen with vanilla slice. Picture: Rachel Simmonds

Malmsbury Bakery owner Anthony Allen said their vanilla slice recipe had been part of the store for more than 30 years.

“Ours is a French vanilla slice. It’s a cream base with custard powder, it’s two-layered with icing, which we’ve been doing since 1989 and since 2005 when I arrived,” he said.

Mr Allen took over the bakery’s ownership in 2018, and the only change to the vanilla slice recipe was to include a butter base.

“I kept the tradition going from the original owner, but we did change from a margarine base to a 100 per cent butter base, which gives a flakier, richer taste,” he said.

However, when he needs a dessert, he reaches for a custard tart.

“I prefer it because it’s just as good, it’s a traditional base made from scratch, everything is made in-shop. They’re equally as good, but vanilla slice is very rich,” Mr Allen said.

Past Mount Alexander, Bendigo and bushland, Bridgewater Bakehouse at Bridgewater on Loddon claims the “best vanilla slice in Australia” with creamy custard and generous fondant icing.

It won the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph in 2021, 10 years after first opening.

Pat O'Toole with his award-winning Vanilla slice. Victoria dominated the 2021 Best Vanilla Slice category, taking out the national win with Bridgewater Bakehouse, Bridgewater. Picture: Rob Leeson

One hundred kilometres northwest, Bakery on Broadway co-owner Ann Durie said they had welcomed several celebrities at their Wycheproof bakery, including Eric Bana, Miriam Margolyes, Arj Barker and several football players.

She said the bakery initially opened to help reinvigorate the town, and now quickly sells out of its vanilla slices.

“We didn’t want our town to die. None of us had baking history, we just bought this beautiful building, it took us two years to get it ready,” she said.

“Now we get people lining out the door and along the street.”

She said a good bakery meant good coffee, fresh bread, lovely pies, displays and a perfect vanilla slice.

Bakery on Broadway’s vanilla slice was developed and perfected by its first pastry chef eight years ago, who was from Thailand.

“He experimented and came up with a recipe that we still use today,” Ms Durie said.

Brad and Tara Sharp, of Birchip, have won the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph five times. Picture: Supplied

Sharp’s Bakery, at Birchip, has won the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph five times and jumped from making 2000 vanilla slices annually to 40,000 after winning their first award in 2009. It placed second this year, with first place going to Banana Boogie Bakery at Adelaide Hills, SA.

Sharp’s Bakery co-owner Brad Sharp said the dessert needed a flaky, crispy pastry, a smooth, creamy custard with a shiny, non-sticky icing.

His father made the bakery’s first recipe.

“We’re on the Sunraysia highway but couldn’t get people to come to Birchip, and by winning the vanilla slice comp they detour to come here now,” he said.

“It was unbelievable. My father was running the business then and it was a dream come true, it turned our business on its ear.”

They occasionally offer a specialty vanilla slice, a chocolate royale, for the adventurous.

“People who love vanilla slice are mad for it,” he said.

With 1.5 hours to rest the stomach, Ouyen is the final stop for a snot block.

Ouyen Mallee Bakery team member Jasmine Anderson with vanilla slice. Picture: Supplied

Ouyen Mallee Bakery co-owners Leah McGlynn and Megan Jardine entered their vanilla slice recipe into the competition for the past two years.

“I’m a sucker for a vanilla slice,” Ms McGlynn said.

They bought the bakery three years ago, and Ms McGlynn said it had been “extremely busy” since.

“The location is key, there’s not really anywhere else in town that people can dine out,” she said.

“We sell out of the vanilla slice nearly every day.

“There’s a huge variety of food, our pastries and pies get really good feedback, it’s freshly made in house every day, and our staff are really great.”