A tin shed on an apple orchard on the Granite Belt is where you'll find Queensland's most famous and arguably best apple pie. Apple farmer Ros Sutton has been baking pies at Sutton's Juice Factory, Cider and Shed Cafe in the state's coldest town since 2008.
Just off the New England highway right before you reach Stanthorpe (look for the big apple on the other side of the road) Sutton's is an essential stop on the Granite Belt food trail if you're exploring the region, or the perfect refuelling break if you're road-tripping through it. From February to May, Ros uses the apples picked straight from their own orchards - a mix of whatever varieties are on the trees; during other months, they're sourced from local farms. Based on an original Women's Weekly recipe handed down by her mother from her mother, each pie contains around 25 apples and weighs a hefty two kilograms.
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Set among the farm's apple orchards, the cafe and shop is housed in a rustic corrugated tin packing shed, with tables set among pallets of bottles of single varietal apple juices, both clear and cloudy, apple cider vinegar and an apple cider made by Ros's self-taught husband Dave. It recently took out a silver award, an achievement of which he is pretty chuffed but one that is perhaps a little ironic for a man who confesses, he "doesn't much like apples" and that his go-to fruit is a "nice juicy mango".
Shelves are filled with jars of sauces, jellies and preserves, and there's a menu of wholesome savoury dishes; toasties, scones and sausage rolls, all made in-house with local farm produce. But it's Ros's apple pie, served warm with a scoop of their own spiced cider ice-cream that draws in daily cafe crowds - more than 800 on the weekends, some of whom come for the day from Brisbane or the Gold Coast. With a round trip of nearly six hours, you'd have to be a mighty keen pie-enthusiast but the proof, ultimately, is in the pudding.
