Ben Swan and Hayley Bradley open Rebel Donuts pop up at Camberwell Place in Hawthorn East
Forget the cinnamon and original glazed, these doughnuts popping up in Hawthorn East — with names like the Salty Sailor, James Dean, and Beetle Juice — are tempting tastebuds. And they’re so popular, people are sending them interstate.
Inner East
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Rebel Donuts has popped up in Hawthorn East, giving foodies a hole new reason to visit Camberwell Place.
The business opened at the boutique shopping centre in December, less than 12 months after it was launched on the Mornington Peninsula by Ben Swan and Hayley Bradley.
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The hand-made and filled range includes old-school iced and cinnamon-dusted circles along with more wacky creations such as the Salty Sailor – a salted caramel-filled, white chocolate-glazed, pretzel-topped indulgence, and the Beetle Juice – a triple-choc treat featuring dark chocolate truffle filling, milk chocolate glaze and white chocolate drizzle.
There's also the James Dean - with a cookies and cream filling, white chocolate glaze and Oreo cookie crumble.
They also have three gluten-free and two dairy-free options.
“We use the best ingredients we can source and everything is made fresh at our purpose-built bakery in Mornington,” Mr Swan said.
Ms Bradley said the couple hadn’t planned on expanding their business so quickly.
““It happened faster than we imagined, but we always had a secret ambition of expanding and used to joke about world doughnut domination,” she said.
Mr Swan said the pair were approached in early December by a real estate agent representing Camberwell Place.
“I said no. Not before Christmas,” he said.
“But then we saw the space on offer and we had to make it happen.”
Mr Swan said the “high end” nature of the centre and its existing tenants made it the “perfect fit” for the business.
“It’s been really successful. The plan was to be here for a couple of months longer, but we do have the option of staying on if things work out.”
In the meantime they are enjoying the reactions from customers.
“I was serving at the pop-up the other day and I watched a woman do a double take as she came down the escalator and saw the Rebel logo,” Mr Swan said.
“She recently moved back to Kew after living on the Peninsula and was so excited to see we had a store here.”
He said the business was also developing a following interstate.
“We have customers who take boxes of our donuts with them when they fly to Sydney or Adelaide,” he said.
Rebel Donuts is at Shop 112 in the food precinct at Camberwell Place, 793 Burke Rd, Hawthorn East.
Other inner-city doughnut shops:
190 High St, Windsor
This seriously good doughnut shop is run by 17-year-old Morgan Hipworth. Flavours include Golden Gaytime and Hershey’s Cookies and Cream.
149 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
It might be known for its bread but Baker also does a mean Italian doughnut – light, fluffy and delicious.
3 Tivoli Rd, South Yarra
There are no holes in these doughnuts, just oozy, decadent fillings such as lemon custard, salted caramel or rhubarb.
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