Yatala Pies vanilla slice fail

I’ve spent the weekend in Brisbane visiting Miss13, Miss17 and my parents. We have some activities planned and I’ve taken Monday as recreation leave so we could fit things in. I’m writing a series of short posts about the food we ate on this visit. 

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It’s Sunday morning and we’re on our way to the Gold Coast for the day. Part of the journey is breakfast at Yatala Pies which is a bit of an institution in God’s own (i.e., Queensland). 

 

Miss13 and Miss17 had no qualms about pastry for breakfast. We were on the road at 7.30 and by the time we got there a little after 8 we were all pretty hungry. 

Miss13 asked for a caramel tart sans cream, Miss17 went for a vanilla slice as did I. I also asked for a jam and cream doughnut that we could share.

There were no vanilla slices on the counter when we arrived and when the lady went out the back to investigate if they had any my heart sank when she emerged with two slices that looked like they’d been in the cold room.

Long time readers will know of my devotion to the good old Aussie vanilla slice which Mexicans (aka Victorians) call snot blocks. If you want to know what I reckon makes a good vanilla slice here is my review. It’s become such a thing I regularly have conversations with a couple of very senior colleagues at work. So much so we send text messages to one another along with photographs when we come across a new vanilla slice we haven’t tried.

This vanilla slice had multiple problems. The icing was too thick and the pastry was too stiff. The custard while tasting nice was also a little gelatinous. 

The jam and cream doughnut on the other hand was delicious. It was light and fluffy and not at all doughy. The cream wasn’t too sweet and the jam wasn’t either. Miss17 thought a little more jam would have made it just a little better. 

Please don’t get me wrong, Yatala Pies make great hot pies. I’ve enjoyed them over the years and they’re consistently good. My advice though is steer clear of the vanilla slice and have a jam and cream doughnut instead. 

Have you had a Yatala Pie? What did you think?