The Shepparton bakery placed second in the professional category of the competition, falling short of first place by one point to Bridgewater Bakehouse.
North End Bakehouse's Matt Aylett was delighted by the result, and said his team was determined to collect first prize next year.
"We got third place in 2017, so we knew we were close then," he said.
"It was so close and now we know we just have little things to perfect."
Mr Aylett said the competition attracts entries from across the country, with about 70 vanilla slices judged in the professional category this year.
"We got a score of 62 out of 80, so it was good to get up to number two," he said.
Mr Aylett has been baking for 14 years and has owned North End Bakehouse for nearly six years.
He said the bakery's vanilla slice recipe has taken out first place at the Victorian Baking Show for the past three years.
"We're always pushing to win," he said.
Mr Aylett said the vanilla taste sensation continues to be the bakery's most popular slice, with numbers increasing due to the recent recognition.
"We've gone from selling 30 per day to over 150 in the last couple of days," he said.
North End Bakehouse is located at 2 Grant Ct, Shepparton. The bakery is open 6am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
