When Tasmania’s best lined up to battle it out at the 2020 Tassie Baking Show it was always going to be a hotly contested competition.

Held on November 11 at the James Boags Brewery in Launceston, the competition saw the state’s finest bakers line up to compete across 32 categories that included bread, pies, pastry and danishes, biscuits and cakes.

Brighton’s Best Bakehouse baker Jason Mizzen took home the top prize of Champion Pie of the Show with his spicy tandoori offering however he didn’t stop there, also claiming the Vanilla Slice, Gourmet Pie, Assorted Danish, and Plain Pie categories.

Jason, who has been crowned as pie champion at the state show multiple times since 2013, said a lot of work went into creating the perfect pie, with pastry, colour, flavour, filling and mouth-feel all closely scrutinised by the judges.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way you want it to. You could do everything right but once you put it in the oven it’s in the hands of the pies gods,” he told The Mercury.

“But it’s good for business. It’s good for everyone who entered and it’s also good within ourselves. There’s a big sense of camaraderie and competition in the bakery that helps us all grow.”

The wins for the Brighton’s Best Bakehouse team didn’t stop there, with Bradley Comins awarded gold for his white sourdough, Karl Nichols for his traditional pastries and apprentice Crystal Stewart for her biscuits and fruit flan.

Other winners on the day included Renee Faulkner from Cottage Bakery Scottsdale who took out the Champion Cake / Pastry category with her decorated mud cake, while Trevallyn Gourmet Bakery took home the Champion Loaf of the Show – David Cripps Trophy for their 450g Vienna loaf.