By Justin Flynn
The pie that was judged best in Australia almost wasn’t entered into the 2024 Best Pie and Pastie Competition.
Rolling Pin Pies & Cakes general manager Nathan Williams said the prawn laksa pie that won the Ocean Grove bakery’s major award was a complete afterthought.
The pie has been entered into previous competitions, but was marked down for a lack of stability.
“Normally I’d like to ease into a comp, play around with a few flavours and get the recipe perfect,” Nathan said.
“It was too runny, you don’t want it to end up on your lap. One to two points in this competition can make all the difference.”
But at the insistence of his wife Kristy, Nathan decided to fill the final spot in the oven with the prawn laksa version.
He added cornflour to the recipe to thicken the sauce and initially thought he had gone too far.
“I thought I’d way overdone it and immediately said to my wife ‘I won’t be sending this’,” he said.
“I put it back in the coolroom, but there was room in one of the trays that were going in the oven. Kristy said ‘what have you got to lose?’. I knew the flavour was great, it was just the consistency. I certainly didn’t anticipate winning.
“An Asian-inspired seafood pie won it last year, so it was a surprise that ours got it this year.”
Nathan thought Rolling Pin’s award-winning chunky beef and bacon or a chicken pie would fare better than the prawn laksa.
It is the third time in four years that Rolling Pin has won the top gong for the nation’s best pie.
About 2000 pies from 367 bakeries across Australia were submitted for the competition.
