184 Barker St, Castlemaine, Victoria
Not long after leaving Daylesford, I realised that my pie-sac wasn’t quite full and that I probably needed another pie before I got all woozy from low pastry-levels or something. Castlemaine was on my admittedly circuitous route home, and while I’ve stayed in Castlemaine plenty (great town, you can get there by train, and there’s a couple of good pubs as well) I’d never eaten a pie there.
They say that one of the secrets to happiness is setting yourself achievable goals, so I decided to eat a pie in Castlemaine and end the day with a big tick in the “has achieved something today” column of my ledger.
Hot and Crusty Country Bakery is massive, with plenty of seating inside and outdoor chairs where you can sit and force passers-by to see what it looks like when you put a whole pie in your mouth at once like some kind of pelican-human chimera.
It was technically still breakfast-time (second pie-stop and not even 10am) so it seemed wrong to not have a Steak, Cheese & Bacon Pie. It’s a square pie; thick and somewhat chewy base containing molten-lave cheese, ground steak, free-flowing gravy, and bacon. This bacon tastes a hell of a lot like ham to be honest, but I dine on all swine so I am not splitting hairs here. This is a good pie to get your heart started at the start of the day
If you’re not in a hurry, you can grab yourself a pie and something to drink, then wander a hundred meters or so to the park (or farmer’s market on Sundays) find yourself a picnic bench and just ponder the humble pie. Magnificent. 🥧
Good Pies 
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