The Grumpy Baker has numerous outlets across Sydney but it took a visit a Bilpin for our first visit. The Bilpin shopfront is located in Hanlon’s Hardware Store, next to a historic service station in Bilpin. The queue was extensive but the crisp blue skies of early winter made queuing tolerable.
When in Bilpin, one must order the Apple Pie ($7.00).
This one had a flaky, gently savoury too, though the base didn’t fare quite so well with a slight sogginess in the aluminium case. The filling was generous with the apples with an enjoyable sweetness and level of cinnamon but a tad too soft than ideal. Overall, though, we enjoyed the pairing of the savoury pastry with the sweet filling so this one ranked second for us after the apple pie from The Pie in the Sky Roadhouse.
And for a change of format, we also tried the Apple Turnover ($4.50.)
The flaky pastry was both crisper and more buttery than we’d previously encountered and made for an immensely satisfying first bite that contrasts the sweet apple filling, which was gently acidic with a hint of cinnamon spice, and balanced with the sweet creaminess of the custard.
Moving on, we had the Pear Danish ($4.50).
The thicker layers on the edge of the Danish delivered a rich savoury buttery flavour with every crunchy bite, while the pear delivered a gentle sweetness and retained a firm bite that contrasted well with the custard beneath.
And finally, this was the Cinnamon Bun ($6.50.)
Unfortunately, this pastry was less enjoyable to us than the buttery goodness of the previous. Rather this one was rather dense and dry and lacked the sticky moreishness that usually makes cinnamon buns so enjoyable. The icing went some way to adding sweetness and moisture but did not redeem the bun.
The buttery pastries at Grumpy Baker were a step above and we’d be keen to return to a Sydney store for the rest of the offerings along with their famous sourdough.
The Grumpy Baker is located at 2481 Bells Line of Rd, Bilpin NSW 2758.