Pyney’s 🥧 Reviews
Donald Bakery
(Donald VIC)
(March 2026)
After leaving Edenhope we spent the weekend with Chris Waack and and wife up at Stawell. We had a epic time visiting the whole area which included the picturesqe “Grampians National Park”. While I was there Chris gave me a list of quality bakeries to visit on my way home and the first of these was Shear Delights Bakery (Donald Bakery) in the nearby town of Donald.
Donald is a town in Victoria, located on the Richardson River, at the junction of Sunraysia Highwayand Borung Highway. It’s situated within an agricultural region known for its wheat, barley and lamb production. It is surrounded by a number of lakes including the huge Lake Buloke.
Donald Bakery, situated in the town centre, has been operated by current proprietors Sam and Joanne for over eight years. With nearly 30 years of industry experience, Sam started his apprenticeship in Maryborough VIC. Throughout his career spanning over three decades, Sam briefly pursued a career in sheep shearing; however, his passion for the baking industry ultimately led him back to the bakery.
His memories shearing sheep has been lost with Joanne beautifuly decorating the interior of the bakery with old shearing photos, iron sheeting and other memorabilia. The cabinets are also filled with a fantasic assortment of cakes and other treats. I did try one of Sam’s passionfruit sponge cakes. This was his mothers recipe from the 1973 Avoca School Cook Book !!! OMG this thing was sensational. After tucking into the sponge cake I headed over to the warmer to choose a 🥧 to review.
Sam has a great little selection on offer here that includes all your old traditional favourites. One 🥧 particular flavour caught my attention and that was “ Spaghetti Bolognese” I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed one of these particular flavours before and it looked and smelt delicious.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – In my opinion $6.50 represented really good value. This square shaped 🥧 wasn’t massive in the depth department, but it still was a decent sized 🥧. It’s getting rare to see a 🥧 priced in the six dollar range these days and this one was a little beauty. 8.5/10
2. Meat/Fill Ratio – This 🥧 was totally full as pics will show 10/10
3. Flavour – Listen to this mince, herbs, spices, tomato paste, cheese and pastry shells. The overall flavour was great and combination of ingredients worked a treat. It tasted exactly like your traditional spaghetti bolognese dish and every bite was beautiful. Well done great flavour 9/10
4. Pastry – The pastry was really good and pics will back this up. The color impressed me straight away and the top bake was excellent and had very little shrinkage which was impressive. The shape and shrinkage were near perfect as well. The bottom while baked right through was a smidge thick. Overall Sam has done a great job here 9/10
5. Serving Temperature – Perfect serving temp, zero issues here 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 46.5/50 🥧🥧
Sam has baked a awesome product and it’s one I would easily have again. I love a good square 🥧 and this one didn’t disappoint. From the price point to the serving temp everything was extremely consistent and to be honest there wasn’t much wrong with this 🥧. The flavour was excellent and yes spaghetti bolognese does work in a 🥧. I’m so glad I chose this particular flavour and Sam and his team completely nailed it. We done mate.
Donald and this epic little bakery is definitely worth the stop in. These rural communities rely on locals and passing tourists support and won’t survive without so. 100% add this bakery to your 🥧 book.
A huge thank you to Sam and Joanne for having me in their awesome bakery. I called Sam only a hour before my visit and he was more more than accommodating. The town of Donald is so fortunate to have a wonderful Bakery at their disposal. Also Sam donates so much of his time to the local footy club and raising awareness for mental health in the local community. You wouldn’t meet a nicer bloke, stay safe mate and good luck with the AFL season ahead.
As always thanks for the ongoing support and keep supporting 🇦🇺 bakeries and don’t forget to invite all your friends to the page.
