There are undoubtedly hundreds (thousands?) of churches and bake sales across Michigan that sell pasties. I wish I could visit them all, but most of them aren’t advertised and if they are, they’re more of a local thing. That’s how I came across pasties from Bethany Church in Waterford. The Pasty Girl’s dad bought a few at one of their sales and sent a couple my way.

Bethany sells pasties a couple days out of the year (usually in October), so if you want to try one, you better be in the area on the correct day. They have the usual beef option, but if you want to get crazy, ground turkey is also available.

The beef pasty I had was oddly on the light side. A lot of that likely had to do with the Crisco crust, which made it flaky, but also weak and I couldn’t eat it in my hand. If you’re unfamiliar, Crisco is a vegetable shortening which is used in a lot of pie crusts. It’s lighter than something like lard and not my go-to choice for a pasty. Nevertheless, it’s not like pie crusts taste bad and these have a nice handle.

Somewhat making up for the lighter crust was that the seasonings were a bit different than normal pasties. Sometimes that’s not a good thing, but I liked their take, which included a touch of parsley. The flavor reminded me a little of beef stew. On the downside, it probably could’ve used more salt. It had a different flavor, but it also didn’t jump out at all and was kind of plain in the end.

I’m always down for trying pasties from anywhere and while these weren’t the best ones I’ve ever had, they’re pretty good for a few church chefs who whip them up once every year for the masses. 

Taste: 2.5 (out of 5)
Crust: 3 (out of 5)
Pasty Presentation: 4 (out of 5)
The Shop: 3 (out of 3)
Would I come back for Pasties?: 2 (out of 2) 

Total Pasty Rating: 14.5 (of 20 points)

Reviewed Winter 2020