South Africa has set a new benchmark in the Guinness World Book of Records after a group of Pretoria farmers baked the world's biggest pumpkin pie.
Weighing in at 1.15 tons the 8.4m long and 2.2m wide pie, which took two days to make and bake, was crafted east of the capital in a specially designed gas-heated oven on Saturday.
The Goliat van Gat Boeremark saw the pie improving upon the record set by a group of US farmers of 924kg three years ago.
The 100cm-deep pie saw some of Cullinan's best chefs mixing one ton of fresh pumpkin, 170kg of sugar, 25kg custard powder and 180kg eggs in order to make the pie, which boasted a 285kg pastry base.
Organiser Louis Meintjes said the pie was a great way of showing off South Africa's cooking capabilities.
"Not only does it show that we have what it takes when it comes to cooking but it also shows what SA's farmers have to offer in the sense of top quality fresh produce.
"Farmers play a critical role in ensuring a country is fed and this is one way of highlighting how important this role is to the population."
Meintjes said the boeremark had also revealed the quality of produce available after a pumpkin weighing in at a "whopping" 224kg won the biggest pumpkin competition.
The world's biggest pumpkin weighs 920kg.
Meintjes said the pie's preparation had started on Friday at 9am with a troop of chefs and assistants peeling, chopping and dicing the ingredients for the pie which was put into the oven at 6am on Saturday.
He said the pie, which was weighed on specially calibrated scales, weighed in at 1.15 tons, breaking the previous record.
"We are chuffed. It is fantastic to know that SA has what it takes in not only sports, but also in the culinary department," he said.