Column 1:
a. 210818W-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-pastry.cook
b. 210313Sa-‘CanberraTimes’-pastry.bakery
cd, 2d & 3d. c&d & 2b&c. 211106Sa-‘CanberraTimes-CrackBakery
Column 2:
a. 211114Su-Fairfax-GoodFood-BrunswickEast-WildlifeBakery.
b. 210427Tu-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-bakery
c. 210228Su-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-Fremantle(WA)-Bread.in.Common-bakery.deli. In the west end, Bread in Common feels like a blueprint for good hospitality. A menu unfussy, yet fine, with a bakery at its heart.
Column 3:
a. 200529-Fairfax-Traveller-BridgewaterBakehouse
b. 210429-Fairfax-GoodFood-jaffle
c & 5a. 210822Su-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-Bridgewater-bakery
Column 4:
a. 211102Tu-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-BridgewaterBakehouse-vanilla.slice
b. 210604F-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-Melbourne cbd – Lattice Cakes, milkbar/espresso, coffee lounge. ~1950s.
Column 5:
b. 211010Su-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-pastrycook.teacher
c. 210430F-Fairfax-Traveller-BridgewaterBakery-vanilla.slice
Wed.18.8.21 Melbourne ‘Herald Sun’ pastry cook NUI TE KOHA
TOP Melbourne chef Raymond Capaldi has found a sweet solution to the shortage of skilled workers in the hospitality industry.
Capaldi, who has worked London’s Terrace Kitchen at the legendary Dorchester Hotel, Hong Kong’s Park Lane Hotel and Melbourne’s Sofitel, now runs Baketico, and has launched a mentorship program to find new talent.
He says the program aims to find foster and nurture talent: a much needed serving of initiative and inspiration in this post-pandemrc world of massive skills shortages.
Capaldi’s first "student" is vegan desserts star Sophie O’Connor, who has launched her Pandy Bakeshop at the Baketico Westgarth store.
"Sophie is young, bright. talented – a reminder that the show can definitely still go on", Capaldi said.
O’Connor said: "I’m stunned by their kindness, generosity and belief in me, because I didn’t know I had it in me. But now I’ve come to realise I do.
MARCH 13 2021 ‘Formula 1 of pastry rooms’ opens up in Fyshwick. Abigail McCall
Owner Jarrod Deaton in Three Mills Bakery’s new pastry-making room. Picture: Elesa Kurtz
Baker Jarrod Deaton has described his new Fyshwick venue as the "Formula 1 of pastry rooms" as his business continues to smash hospitality COVID-19 concerns.
Deaton and Three Mills Bakery opened the doors to a new cafe in the industrial heart of Canberra on Friday.
Mr Deaton said the decision to open up in Fyshwick was due to a growing demand for deliveries, which its existing location in Majura couldn’t keep up with.
"During COVID we had a massive focus on delivery and were able to hire a lot of people as drivers," Mr Deaton said.
"When cafes began opening up again, we were running deliveries and service out of the one small spot in Majura and the space was really letting us down."
Going in and out of lockdown forced Canberra’s cafe scene to adapt. For staff traditionally on a casual contract, the likelihood of meeting JobKeeper criteria was slim and this meant a lot of change without security.
Mr Deaton was grateful to take some of those people on board.
"It’s been really great, being able to recruit a new round of workers amidst so much uncertainty," he said.
Now, a space big enough to have once held a wholesale car yard has been converted to a pastry production warehouse.
"Without these kind of facilities in Majura, we had our pastry chefs working 24 hours a day," he said.
A new "pastry room" with state-of-the-art blast-chilling techniques meant staff would no longer need to work overnight.
"This especially helps our older workers who have worked in the pastry industry for years and accepted the reality of overnight hours," Mr Deaton said.
Mr Deaton said his relations with local producers had already been strengthened by the new venue.
"Before, we were only able to take a barrel of apples from the farmers’ markets. There was no real emotional strong relationships forming but now we’re able to go out and set up big deals with local farmers that will last a long time," he said.
"This is a big jump but we’re confident it’s the right one. We’ve already had a busy morning."
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7164309/formula-1-of-pastr…
NOVEMBER 6 2021 Crack Bakery apple pies are selling like hotcakes in Canberra. Megan Doherty
Crack Bakery owners Anna and Gina Petridis were baking them from home but moved into a small commercial kitchen last weekend to keep up with demand. Picture: Keegan Carroll
If you heard of a business called Crack that was very underground, that had people aching to get some supply and was operating next to a former bikies’ hang-out, you might be more than a little bit suspicious.
But, in fact, Crack Bakery couldn’t be more wholesome if it tried.
Its speciality is apple pies and they are, literally, selling like hotcakes.
The powerhouses behind the bakery are former Cafe Patissez owners, the Petridis family, who also invented the FreakShake. Mic. Drop. These guys have the golden touch.
Daughter Anna and mum Gina have been selling 200 of Gina’s special-recipe apple pies a week, each one piled high with 1.2 kilograms of Granny Smith apples. And the demand for the pies is insatiable.
"It’s been a bit of a whirlwind," Gina said, with a laugh. "It’s been insane. But I’m loving it."
When the family sold their iconic cafe in Manuka last year to local couple Jake and Lucy Yu, the plan was to enjoy some downtime, with some vague thought to selling the pies online.
The line-up for pick-up from the Crack Bakery kitchen on Saturday morning. Picture: Megan Doherty
But what was supposed to be a little side hustle, has become a phenomenon to rival the FreakShake, with stock selling out almost as soon as it is posted online, usually Monday at 6.30pm, at crackbakery.com
"Then it’s just the quick and the dead," Anna said.
"They are usually sold out within two to three minutes. It’s psycho. The amount of people who message me saying, ‘I missed out again! I’ve been trying for weeks!’."
Anna and Gina – "Mumma G" – were originally cooking the pies from their home. But last weekend, they moved into a small commercial kitchen in Wanniassa, to increase the capacity.
They have temporarily taken over the kitchen of another cult favourite, Thomas Heinrich’s The Table, which is in the process of relocating to The Truffle Farm in the Majura Valley. The kitchen is in a building that once boasted the Rebels bikies’ clubhouse, although they are long gone, replaced by a woodworking school.
From the kitchen, mum and daughter and now one employee are baking apple pies and pumpkin pies.
They will be doing special orders of meat pies and Christmas treats such as huge pavlovas. Their goal is to now sell 300 apple pies a week.
"I didn’t expect it to become as big as it is," Anna said.
Xanthie gets her hands on the good stuff on Saturday morning. Picture: Megan Doherty
Pick-up of the pies was from the Down Town Milk Bar in Manuka, run by Anna’s uncle, hence all those queues you’ve been seeing. But there were so many orders the family couldn’t transport them all by car. So now pick-up will be Saturday mornings direct from the kitchen in Wanniassa.
And, on cue, the customers started arriving on Saturday to get their hands on the good stuff, including Xanthie, who did not want to give her last name, who was picking up a pie for her father-in-law’s birthday.
"This is my third one," she said. "It’s the crust. The crust is the best bit."
Freya Kristiansen, of Kingston, was lucky enough to bag three pies – and some "liquid crack". Picture: Megan Doherty
Freya Kristiansen, of Kingston, hit the jackpot when she managed to snag three pies in the online orders, as well as some "liquid crack", cream for the pies.
"I got online straight on 6.30pm and by 6.35pm, they were all gone. They said I was really lucky to get three pies," she said.
So what does make the pies so special? The mum and daughter say piling the pies high with apples is key. Only use Granny Smith apples. Gina has a secret recipe for her pastry, that cracks when you break the pie, and uses a hand-held apple slinky machine to core the apples, the only thing that works well, she reckons. With so many people now after the pies. And she makes the pies with love.
"All this food, I made for my kids when they were growing up," she said.
Gina laughs about how she wanted a quiet life after running Cafe Patissez.
"But after a couple of weeks, I was stressed because there was no stress," she said.
Anna is planning next year to open Crack Bakery as a full-time concern in another, still-secret location and also has another business up her sleeve.
"It’s a bit hush-hush. But it’s very cool," she said.
Oh and she’s also getting married on November 30 in Jervis Bay. Nothing like keeping busy.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7498596/pies-selling-like-…
We’ve found Australia’s best vanilla slice in country Victoria. Lee Atkinson May 29,2020
Australia’s best vanilla slice is officially found in the tiny town of Bridgewater on Loddon in central Victoria.
The Bridgewater Bakehouse – a two-hour drive up the Calder Highway from Melbourne, 35km northwest of Bendigo – has won the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph not once, but twice, in 2018 and 2019. (It was cancelled in 2020 but will be on again in 2021).
According to the judges of the prestigious custard cook-up, which began in 1998 when a remark by then Victorian premier Jeff Kennett – that the vanilla slice from the Ouyen bakery was the best he’d ever tasted – sparked a competition that now attracts bakers from around the country, to win a slice should have “a custard with a creamy smooth texture and a balance of vanilla taste with a crisp crunchy pastry topped with a smooth and shiny glaze fondant”, but I have my own set of rules.
Bridgewater Bakery Vanilla Slice Australia
Bridgewater Bakery.
At the risk of upsetting the traditionalists, who insist the icing should be white, the best vanilla slices are iced in a tangy high-vis yellow, decorated with passionfruit pips, and so sticky that the paper bag they are presented in must be torn off, rather than opened like an envelope. The pastry must be al dente rather than rubbery and the custard should be firm enough to squish rather than ooze, easy to lick off your fingers without leaving a sticky residue, and once you’ve finished your slice your shirt should be free of any icing sugar, which has no place on a proper vanilla slice anyway.
Despite the Bridgewater slice being iced white, it ticks all the boxes. The town might be home to only 300 or so but there have been days, according to Bakehouse Manager Rob Bayliff, when more than 900 of the sweet sandwiches have been carried out the doors. Which either means the locals are seriously addicted, or there are plenty of people happy to make the trip.
Bridgewater Bakehouse: 6 Main St, Bridgewater on Loddon, Victoria. Open daily 6am-6pm.
See more: Cheap Aussie burger that rivals In-N-Out
www.escape.com.au/destinations/australia/victoria/weve-fo…
Apr 30 2021 Best vanilla slice in Australia: O’Toole’s Bridgewater Bakehouse reveals the secret to great pastries. Julietta Jameson
Bridgewater Bakehouse’s vanilla slice.
When you’re talking vanilla slice with Pat O’Toole, don’t ever ask about pink icing.
"White icing, always white," he says with an "are you kidding me" smile.
For O’Toole, vanilla slice is serious business – he currently holds the title of Best Vanilla Slice in Australia.
Pat O’Toole and his creations. Photo: Julietta Jameson
And since taking that title, business at O’Toole’s little country bakery "has gone silly" he says, selling an average of 500 of the much loved slices a day. "And a lot more on certain days," he adds.
Sure, every country town probably has a bakery claiming their version is the national champ. But the sweet treat created at O’Toole’s Bridgewater Bakehouse in this eponymous central Victorian village (with a branch in nearby Bendigo) is officially the best.
It won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 in The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph, a hotly contested competition that, like many a good thing, was cancelled in 2020, but which will take place again at Merbein in Victoria’s Sunraysia region in August.
The competition began in Ouyen in 1998 after then-Victorian premier Jeff Kennett claimed the vanilla slice from the town’s Mallee Bakery was the best he’d ever tasted. He personally championed the official event, and was a judge for several years.
For O’Toole, baking competitions weren’t a priority. After opening in 2011, "We just wanted to concentrate on the business and on doing good products," he says, and he was happy serving 150-200 customers a day.
And most bakers probably would be happy with that. But bigger things were on the horizon. O’Toole had combined good products with a great location; his Bridgewater Bakehouse is on the Calder Highway near the Loddon river (the section of the road called Main Street), right where the road forks for Mildura one way, Swan Hill the other. It’s a perfect pitstop.
And, aware of the marketing benefits of such things, he entered the vanilla slice comp in 2017. "We didn’t do any good. But then I thought, bugger it, I want to win it now."
So he "studied and messed with the recipe", concentrating on the things the judges did: the "mouthful" size of the slice, not too big so it goes everywhere when you bite into it, a light and crispy pastry that snaps to the bite but doesn’t break up, a creamy texture to the custard that’s "velvet on the palate," and is fluffy and aerated.
And then there’s that icing. "It must be a certain thickness, not too much of it, but no pastry showing through and just a little taste of sweet. It has to be glossy, like a mirror, and yes, it has to be white."
O’Toole is cagey about the secrets to a good slice, but is very open about one aspect: "Good quality ingredients put you on the front foot."
To that end, he uses vanilla seed rather than essence and his flour is from Laucke Flour Mills which you can see from the back steps of the bakery.
And that’s another winning aspect of the vanilla slice title – the opportunities it gives O’Toole and his wife and business partner, Theresa, to give back to the community.
Locals say the bakery’s success has lifted the town up with it.
"I don’t like to talk myself up," O’Toole says. "But we now employ 40 staff, and we’ve brought change to the town. The shire has spent more money and upgraded stuff, and we employ farm kids as juniors to give them their first experience in the job market. We put a lot of money back into the community and the footy club and we buy locally. So everyone’s getting a piece of the pie." (Or the slice, as it were.)
The reflected glory has extended to new proprietors in the Bridgewater pub down the road, who tore up a dreary carpark taking up the space between the pub and its river frontage, and replaced it with grass, creating one of the most scenic beer gardens going. They too, champion local ingredients, with Bendigo and Heathcote wines and meats from The Fat Butcher in nearby Inglewood featured on the menus.
And now for the three-peat.
O’Toole says he’s aware his competitors have swung by and bought a slice or two "to dissect".
Meanwhile, he’s doing some dissecting and tweaking of his own.
And he’s not stopping with the slice. "We’ve done pie competitions, and got golds and silvers but we haven’t won over all. I’m keen to have a good crack at that."
As for the taste (and texture) test? This writer concurs: best vanilla slice ever.
See bridgewaterbakehouse.com.au; bendigoregion.com.au
The writer travelled as a guest of Bendigo Regional Tourism.
www.traveller.com.au/best-vanilla-slice-in-australia-otoo…
* Interesting! I can’t imagine any French Vanilla Slice topping those of The Bush Bakery in the Huon Valley, Tasmania.
* Lancefield definitely has the best vanilla slices. I’m not a fan of these but the Lancefield ones are awesome.
* Can’t beat Brown Bakery Cleveland QLD. vanilla slice!
* Since I’ve tried mille-feuille made by a French pastry baker i never looked at any vanilla slice.
* I will head that way for a holiday soon and will definitely stop here and also the Bridgewater pub.
* Best vanilla slice. I sadly now live thousands of km away.
* Great story about local community.
* recipe please!
* He keeps it a closely guarded secret! I tried!
* Julietta Jameson for the filling, creamy, creme patissiere
210822Su-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-Bridgewater-bakery. Bridgewater in central Victoria is one of the myriad reasons the Bendigo region was named a UNESCO city of Gastronomy in 2019.
Take Bridgewater Bakehouse. Posters in the front window announce it was the winner of the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph.
Thanks to Covid the last official championships were held in 2019, but for pastry enthusiasts this bakehouse wins the title every day.
Owner Pat O’Toole is proud. The bakery’s win has put this tiny Victorian town on the map again (it took out the title in 2018, too).
Pat says the day after his slice won the competition cars came “roaring” up the highway and business has been booming ever since. He sells at least 500 of his award-winning pastries a day
His vanilla slice sees light, fluffy custard encased in thin leaves of crisp pastry with a fine layer of icing — the texture, crispness and sweetness all judged sublime.
Further along the street is another gastronomic attraction.
Since reopening in October 2020 the renovated property has become a pretty setting for a rolling roster of weddings and live music sessions.
The pub offers diners a menu of classics, and one of the real stars is the produce from the Fat Butcher in nearby Inglewood.
The pork belly and lamb are excellent examples of farm—fresh regional fare. The drinks list, meanwhile, highlights the talent of local winemakers with the likes of Black Wallaby Wines and Water Wheel Vineyards, and cider producers such as Harcourt.
Bridgewater was once a sleepy river town at an intersection where the Calder turns towards Mildura. Now, only 35km from Bendigo and 180km from Melbourne it has blossomed into a food destination.
Factor it into your meal planning when you’re on the road in the goldfields.
ALSO IN TOWN: the Art Deco Loddon Bridge Hotel.
OCTOBER 27 2021
The awards celebrate quintessential Aussie travel experiences across six categories, and highlight the unique joys synonymous with local travel – hot chips on the beach, regional bakeries serving up nostalgic baked goods, country pubs full of colourful characters, and stunning hotel pools in iconic Aussie settings.
This year’s awards also set out to profile the many local legends, businesses and attractions that make communities tick and represent what travelling in Australia is all about.
Now in its fourth year, the awards encourage Aussies to explore their own backyard and support their favourite businesses – more relevant than ever following the continued challenges faced by the tourism and hospitality industries over the past 18 months.
For the nearly four in 10 Aussies (38 per cent) who feel that they have only touched the surface when it comes to Australian travel, the promise of eased travel restrictions this summer means that, whether you’re looking to taste test the country’s best hot chips, or relax in a cabana beside a hotel pool, it’s a great time to get out and explore the underrated gems that Australia does best.
The awards raked in thousands of nominations from all over the country, it’s clear the little things in life often stir the greatest debate.
Whether you prefer chicken salt or gravy on your chips, call it a snot block over a vanilla slice, or demand a savoury rather than sweet jaffle, this year’s awards continue to uncover some of Australia’s best kept local secrets.
Voting in the MasterFoodsTM People’s Choice Award has opened and will run through to December 12.
The state and territory winners announced at a virtual event on December 14.
National winners were:
Best Vanilla Slice: Bridgewater Bakehouse, Bridgewater and Bendigo, VIC.
The NSW WOTIF award winners were:
Best Vanilla Slice: Gumnut Patisserie, Mittagong, Bowral and Berrima.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7486440/chasing-the-best-h…
Tues.2.11.21 Melbourne ‘Herald Sun’. Vanilla slice.
WHEN many think of the Victorian township of Bridgewater, they dream of vanilla slice.
Bridgewater Bakehouse was voted by its customers as having the country’s best vanilla slice in the Wotif Uniquely Aussie Awards for 2021.
Owner Pat O’Toole said the perfect vanilla slice has the "right ratio".
“Our vanilla slice has the right custard to pastry to icing ratio," Mr O’Toole said
The bakery, with shops in Bridgewater and Bendigo, is familiar with the taste of victory, but this victory tasted even sweeter: knowing that the votes are cast by his customers and not food critics.
Wotif Uniquely Aussie Awards also crowned winners for the best jaffle, country pub, hot chips, hotel pool and national park.
Sun.10.10.21 Melbourne ‘Herald Sun’. Baby boomers work on. NATASHA BITA & ALEXANDRA MIDDLETON
UPBEAT Baby Boomers are working well past retirement age, snapping up investment properties to pay for their lifestyles.
Forty per cent of Boomers — the post-war babies now aged between 56 and 74 — are still working, according to the survey.
…Airport West’s Greg Williams, 62, has been working as a patisserie and baking teacher for 35 years and has no plans to slow down. “I don’t feel like I’m in my 60s so I’m not going to stop yet there is still more to learn,” he said. The grandfather said he was eager to keep teaching and baking for his family long after retirement. “After retirement I see myself volunteering and teaching disadvantaged people how to bake,” he said.
…RSL LifeCare chief Graham Millett said many seniors found working or volunteering beyond retirement age a “life force”.
“There are people who just can’t afford to stop working but for others work gives them a sense of optimism and purpose, and they want to continue to contribute,” he said.
Posted by Roderick Smith – retired rnveditor on 2021-11-10 01:40:42
Tagged: , Western , Australia , Perth , Fremantle , bakery , deli , cafe
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