Glen Innes’ beloved bakery Sweetie Pie’s Bake Shop has taken out a host of prizes at this year’s 34th annual Great Aussie Pie Competition. Owned by local couple Nicole and Zaylie Hyde, the bakery entered 10 separate categories in the competition and came away with 9 medals.
Nicole Hyde tells us that this is the 2nd year they have entered the competition.
“Last year was our first entry and we won 10 medals – 2 silver and 8 bronze. But we still wanted that gold,” she says.
Sweetie Pie’s got their gold, not once but four times for 2023, being awarded gold medals for their Chilli Mexican pie in the Gourmet Red Meat Category, their Prawn Mornay in the Gourmet Seafood Category and one each for their Vegetable Satay and Vegetable Mornay in the Gourmet Vegetarian Category.
They also won silver medals in the Gourmet Poultry, Gourmet Apple, Gourmet Red Meat, Gourmet Seafood and Gourmet Brekkie Categories.
Sweetie Pie’s took out the major category winning spot in the Vegetarian Category for their Vegetable Mornay.
“We can now say that we have Australia’s best vegetarian or vegan pie,” says Ms Hyde.
The Great Aussie Pie Competition has been running since 1989. According to their website, the competition’s aims are “raising the quality standards of pies throughout Australia.”
“For more than 30 years the competition has built pride among bakers, chefs, and even butchers, and established passion in the art of pie-making while forming an industry benchmark for excellence,” the Great Aussie Pie Competition website says.
Sweetie Pie’s opened in Glen Innes in October 2022. Nicole Hyde is the head pastry chef and tells us she has been in the trade for 23 years after starting out straight after leaving school.
When asked what she believes gives Sweetie Pies a unique edge she says, “We started our bake shop as a wife & wife team and we’re just your average tattooed ladies with great food and customer service being our focus.”
“We make everything on site: from our pastry being made and rolled out fresh each morning to slow cooking our meats daily for hours on end. We even make our stock from scratch,” Ms Hyde says.
The Hydes also firmly believe in keeping things local and being a part of the local community.
“After we welcomed our first child in June, we hired some lovely local ladies which has really just made our business,” says Ms Hyde.
“We also use our local amazing butcher – Campbell’s Butchery. They are a fifth-generation family butcher, and they have the most incredible meats,” Ms Hyde says.
Ms Hyde wants to thank the community for their support over the years saying, “The community response has been so incredible. We had so many likes and comments on social media when we announced our win and it’s led to a very busy week with lots of new customers coming to try us.”
“We are so very appreciative of the community support we would not be who we are without the community and their support of our little bake shop.”
“We love our community and really hope that the competition helps put our beautiful town on the map for lots more visitors to enjoy everything that we love about Glen Innes.”
Sweetie Pie’s Bake Shop is located at 40 Edward Street Glen Innes and is open Wednesday to Sunday. For More information, visit their Facebook page.
For more information about the Great Aussie Pie Competition and to see a full list of all the winners, visit their website.
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