South Australia’s Orange Spot Bakery was named the overall winner at the Great Aussie Pastie Competition in June, held at FoodService Australia in Melbourne.

The Glenelg-based bakery won the Best Plain Pastie category as well as the top award, earning it the national title for a second year in a row

The Vegetarian Pastie and Gourmet Pastie categories were won by Cottage Style Bakery in Kyabram, Victoria.

The event was run by national baking industry body Baking Associations of Australia (BAA) and received more than 60 entries.

St Helens Park Bakery owner and pastie head judge, Ron Taylor said he was delighted with the increase in entry numbers and the quality of pasties entered.

“People have listened to what we said (last year) and followed up by putting it into practice with their pasties,” Mr Taylor said.

The 70-year-old pastry cook was joined by judges John Dubont, Brendan Carter, James Stone, John Humphries and Stewart Latter.

“The quality of the plain pastie is certainly better then what it was last year, pastry wise and fill wise. It doesn’t need a lot of spicing up, all it needs is salt and pepper,” Mr Taylor said.

The experienced baking judge said there were different styles of pasties and pastries possible, such as savoury short style and puff pastry.

“I prefer to see the puff pastry only because it’s better eating. It’s got a nicer crunch to it and a nicer mouth feel. That’s two of the points you have to score,” he said.

One of Mr Taylor’s main criticisms from last year’s event were pasties with an uncooked internal pastry. This year saw frozen vegetables used in some entries.

“To have a better flavour for a better result, chop up fresh vegetables and use that with just a bit of mince to bind them, whether it be a sausage mince or a hamburger mince, that’s all it needs. We can tell the difference,” he said.

Bakers improving their product through competition was a major benefit to the industry, Mr Taylor said.

“The people that want to learn and do learn from it, they benefit from it. I love to see that, I really do,” he said.

Mr Taylor and the team of judges will be back to work in September at the Great Aussie Meat Pie Competition.