Terang bakery wins award for best pastie in the state

Terang Country Bakery took out the title for its meat and roast veggie pastie at the Victorian Baking Show in Shepparton at the weekend.

Owner Gaye McVilly said the win was a big surprise after a last-minute decision to enter the pastie in the competition.

"We were very surprised that our pastie got the best in Victoria. We don't usually enter our pasties. It's all about the pies," she said.

"Dave, who baked them, took a batch out of the oven and they looked really good and we thought we'd chuck a couple in and take them up to Shepparton and they did well."

The secret to their success, Ms McVilly said, was roasting the vegetables and keeping them chunky, not mushy.

The bakery, which has now notched up about 30 awards and prizes for their products, was well known for its award-winning pies.

"We're really lucky. Word of mouth is the best recommendation and people will come in and say 'we are here for some of your award-winning pies'," Ms McVilly said.

She said that when they opened the store more than three years ago they never envisaged it being so successful.

"We can't believe it. When we opened we planned that Brad would do the baking and that there would be me and a part-time girl in the shop and we've now got 17 staff and four of those are full-time bakers," she said.

"Within three weeks of opening we realised it was going to be a lot bigger than we ever imagined.

"We're very, very lucky. The staff are as passionate about it as we are. They get as much fun out of the fact that we've won awards as we do."

Ms McVilly said three of the bakers originally worked together in Timboon.

"They were taught the old-fashioned methods by the older guys. It's not about being fast, it's about being more gentle with the product and letting it rest," she said.

The support of locals had helped the business get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We were lucky we didn't have to put off any staff, no one went on the jobkeeper," she said.

"Without the support of the locals we wouldn't have been here."

WHAT TO ADD TO STORIES:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

MORE READS:

Listen to the latest episode of our weekly podcast The Booletin and Beyond:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.