Eyes on the pies in the Southern Highlands

Warning: this story contains explicit use of pie puns and, quite frankly, almost too many pies…. Almost.

“All Aboard the Party (Pie) Bus!”

You know that dream where they put you on a bus, drive you around from pie shop to pie shop to pie shop, with a few wines and beers thrown in for good measure? Well, I had to pinch myself because that really happened. In celebration of the second year of Pie Time on the Southern Pie-lands – a whole month celebrating local pies – Eat Canberra was recently invited to take part in a road trip for a series of pie-nanigans.

So how did this all get started? Well, apparently many regions have laid claim to being the pie capital of Australia but, a bit of clever research soon revealed that the Southern Highlands ranked highest on the scale of GPD (Geographic Pie Density). This fact got all those bakers pretty excited and they decided something needed to be done. If this sounds appealing, then you’re going to love June because the whole region is on pie-alert!

Fun fact: The pie originated in ancient Egypt.

The first stop on our pie adventure was the charming Heatherbrae’s Pies, located at the Sutton Forest exit. The pies are delicious – especially the cherry and apple. *drool emoji* Head baker, Russell Cox, and the team were kind enough to show us how they made their pies and, unlike sausages, it was quite an enjoyable process to watch. We learned that the pastry for the base and the lid are different because the latter needs to be flakier. And if you’re not satis-pied with that level of dedication to the cause of getting you the pie, they have a drive thru option available!

Fun fact: Drive. Thru. Pies. Weren’t you listening?

Next we headed to Cuttaway Hill Winery for a few Pinots and a sandwich… jokes! We had a pie, duh. Another Heatherbrae’s pie but savoury this time and it was every bit as good as the sweet version we’d had earlier. I opted for the beef and mushroom, though I soon wished I had been able to order a second when I s-pie-d someone else’s lemon, pepper, duck and Pinot pie. If you’d like to recreate our lunch – and try the wines that this region is famous for – check out their $10 pie and pinot special available throughout the month of June.

Fun fact: Cuttaway was one of the first vineyards to plant Pinot grapes in this region, 22 years ago.

Soon it was time for the group of intre-pied travellers to hit the road and visit Eden Brewery in Bowral. We stepped into the huge shed and the cozy atmosphere engulfed us. People were enjoying beer tastings on long paddles, music and food all under a canopy of twinkling lanterns. I could see myself spending a long afternoon there with friends. Plus they fed us pies from the famous – with a line around the outside of the building – Gumnut Patisserie. Slow cooked beef with Eden Brewery Porter beer, nuzzled in delicate pastry, was a unanimous highlight of the day.

Fun fact: Eden Brewery gives 10% of all profits to Oxfam.

This is where the event intensi-pied as we clamoured aboard open top, army-style jeeps. Why? Because we be cool like that. We felt super cool… frozen, in fact, on a windy, 5 degree day. Actually, it was kind of awesome and you can tour the Southern Highlands just like we did thanks to Kombi Capers. You too can arrive as windswept as a Vogue cover model to your destination, in our case, The Cook’s Cooking School. They also have a regular, closed top Kombi if you don’t want to mess up your ‘do.

The school is set on gorgeous, rural grounds. Here we met the lovely Anna who has a gift for teaching everyone from foodies to those self-proclaiming non-cooking types how to make food – like an apple pie. If you’re playing along at home, that’s pie number four right there.

The school is run by the Your Angel Initiative which facilitates programs providing important life skills to community groups & individuals. But you can also book in for a cooking class in their beautifully appointed kitchen, learning basics or more complicated dishes. Our apple pie with sour cream pastry was delightful.

Fun fact: Apart from imparting pie skills, the cooking school funds a program that uses robots to work with local children living with Autism, developmental, social, emotional and/or behavioural challenges.

Last stop on the pie-tinerary was Tractorless Vineyard where we were treated to a [few] sip[s] of sparkling and a really interesting demo on the art of riddling (turning bottles to create methode champenoise wines – ie: bubbles). Tractorless, as the name im-pies, is a vineyard using biodynamic principles with a focus on sustainability. This place also wins the prize for the most adorable roadie pack I will probably ever have: four tiny, gourmet pies, from Coffee Culture Bowral, each flavour matched with its perfect wine. It even included a sweet, pumpkin pie with complementary dessert wine. Their cellar door is open seven days.

Fun fact: A professional riddler can turn 500 000 bottles a day by hand!

I can’t wait to get back and spend some time wandering around the area, revisiting these places and checking out spots that caught my eye out the bus window. There’s still time to enjoy the many amazing events so head on over to www.pietime.com.au for all the pie-ssential details.

Fun fact: When pies were served to royalty, they would only eat the lid and filling, leaving the remaining soggy pastry for the staff. Hence the term, upper crust.

Eat Canberra enjoyed the experiences mentioned in this article as a guest of Visit Southern Highlands but all opinions are the authors own.

About the author:

Emma Bickley is an irrepressible foodie who divides her time between cooking, eating and a few other tasks that pale into insignificance by comparison. She tries to follow recipes but ultimately cooks by feel… and with an irresponsible amount of butter. Even her small children (AKA culinary protégés) already know that no one eats until a photograph has been taken. You can find her food pics on Instagram @photo_before_we_eat or find her blissfully wandering around the markets squeezing produce, talking with her hands, encouraging her husband to smell things (which he won’t) and trying to decipher foreign ingredient labels. Of recent, you can also find her writing and dining for Eat Canberra. And if you ask about the stain on her top, she’ll say it was delicious.