Gold is on the menu at Penny Lanes2 min read

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Penny Lanes Bakery is celebrating its first gold medal at the Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards, with a win that surprised even its experienced bakers.

The Onehunga bakery received gold this year for its vegetarian pie, which is made with mixed vegetables, mushroom and spinach, and it’s their first gold medal win at the annual awards.

Owners Sophea and Jacksea Tang also earned bronze for their mince and cheese pie, while its steak and gravy pie placed in the top 10.

Last year, their steak and gravy won bronze and over the years, they’ve had top ten finishes for their potato top, and bacon and egg varieties and a highly commended award for their chicken and vegetable.

Around 5,000 pies from 503 bakeries were entered this year with bakeries submitting two pies in each category. Sophea, who baked Penny Lanes’ entries, says she suspected they had won a category when they were invited to a pre-awards dinner, but had expected one of the bakery’s meat pies to take the top prize. However, the decision to enter a vegetarian option was deliberate.

“Vegetarians also love pies, and we wanted them to be able to enjoy one too,” she says.

The meat-free pie was not previously one of the bakery’s biggest sellers, but that changed quickly after the award.

Customers are now coming in specifically to try it, while also exploring the bakery’s other pies and an expanding selection of sweet treats.

Penny Lanes has been part of Onehunga for 14 years and has four staff. The working day starts early, with the team arriving before 5am to begin baking.

Sophea says she loves baking because it combines practical skill with creativity.

“You are always thinking about the next ingredient and what you can do to make something better,” she says. “When customers come in and you see how happy they are enjoying your food, it feels great.”

The bakery plans to keep entering the awards every year, using the experience as motivation to develop its skills, experiment with flavours and continually improve.