Eaglehawk Bakery Caffe
80 High Street
Eaglehawk 3556
City of Greater Bendigo
Voted “Victorian Bakery of the Year 2008-2009” with their award winning pies (12 awards last year in “Great Australian Pie Competition”) and touted as 2nd best vanilla slice in Victoria. It is known locally as the Bakery with the Penny Farthing Bike, a Mulga Bill Room and Mulga Bill Pie which offers tribute to ‘Mulga Bill’s Bicycle’.
| Side Note for any Banjo Patterson fans: Mulga Bill’s Bicycle is a poem written in 1896 by Banjo Paterson. “It tells the tragic tale of Mulga Bill, a man whose pride in his riding skill causes him to purchase, ride and crash a bicycle Although Mulga Bill claims expertise in riding all things his ineptitude and subsequent accident suggest that he may only know how to ride a horse.” (See: Wikipedia)
The reason behind its association & incorporation with Eaglehawk likes in the poems reference to Eaglehawk as Mulga Bill’s hometown – ‘Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze’. |
It was just past midday on Friday, with chilly winds and gloomy weather, but the local crowd gathering did not appear fazed by this. There were probably more than a dozen workers trying to juggle a constant bustle of customers.
Mulga Bill gourmet pie – Tender chunks of Lamb & Rosemary, and Roasted Potatoes – Below the thin crumbly roof pastry was a distinct lamb aroma with mild rosemary tones (could have done with more rosemary). The lamb was soft and the potato cubes had a chewy component. Overall a nice pie. But as usual with pies, the filling was a little clouded by the brown-starchy fluid.
Mulga Bill gourmet pie
Mulga Bill gourmet pie - chunky filling
Vanilla Slice – Normally trying to cut a vanilla slice would cause it to squish out all of its middle (the usual solution would be to turn the vanilla slice on its side and try slicing through the pastry first in a downward motion).
But, that was not necessary at all. The super crispy-brittle pastry was easily cut through with a knife. The super-fine layers of wavy pastry was buttery and was just crisp enough to give that pastry crunch but not as hard as a shortbread. The custard was not your usual smooth-shiny looking version, but was more of a thick-eggy-vanilla-moose. It was a delightful treat, not too rich, and just a subtle aftertaste of vanilla. (The thick custard probably did help with it not squishing out with cutting)
Vanilla slice
Latte – moderate bodied, with creamy milk aromas.
Rating: Yummy
Unpleasant: damn upset my desire to eat; Average: palatable but many shortcomings; Yummy: a pleasant experience; Yummy +: mouth-watering like rain; Yummy ++: exquisite flavours that hit all the right notes; Divine: sheer culinary perfection!
Almost Always Ravenous 
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Check out what others are saying...[…] Eaglehawk Bakery Cafe, 80 High Street A review from Almost Always Ravenous from 18Sep10. […]
[…] So we motored north. Of course a bonus is that the road to Goschen travels through Eaglehawk in Bendigo, and of course a stop off at the Eaglehawk Bakery, for a famed “Mulga Bill” pie is not to be missed. This time as it turned out others of the travelling family had the same idea and we met up in the bakery. I’m not the only one on WordPress with a penchant for the Mulga Bill pie as “Almost Always Ravenous” has a page here. […]