It has been a week of celebration for Newcastle's premium donut shop, who took out four prizes at Australia's National Donut Competition.
DoughHeads, which began in the laundry of Anna Farthing nine years ago, won champion donut for a Creme Brulee creation at the top industry awards. Competition came from as far as Darwin.
"It was a mix of the custard having great flavour. It is so smooth and delicious with toffee shell over the top," Ms Farthing said. "It had the texture and sweetness."
The awards are run by the Baking Association of Australia and run in Sydney at the same time as national competitions for sweets, pastries and bakery products.
DoughHeads also took out the gourmet and jam donut categories. It won second prized for a glazed donut, which remains popular at The Junction-based store.
But for Ms Farthing, who entered the competition for the first time this year, the real champions are her staff.
Head chef Kallan Bragg worked "tirelessly" on winning entries and was in the kitchen at 3:00am on judging day.
"He went to so much effort and is so excited," Ms Farthing said.
Mr Bragg has been at DoughHeads for seven years - a loyalty Ms Farthing said is "incredibly rare" in the hospitality industry.
"That's just not done," she said. "It is really quite special."
Ms Farthing is already creaming of creations for next year's competition but said she hopes to take some time to celebrate.
"I truly never dreamed [DoughHeads] would go this far," she said.
To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.
