Courtney Stuart, of Durban’s new Dough Girl, has been baking since she was 11 years old. She supplied Durban stalwart Corner Café when it was owned by Judd Campbell, was formally trained at the Jackie Cameron School of Food & Wine and, before opening Dough Girl, did a six-month student internship in Cape Town at the headquarters of all things baked: Jason Bakery.

 

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A post shared by Courtney Stuart (@doughgirlza) on Jul 26, 2019 at 2:12am PDT

Dough Girl’s doors opened last week on Stephen Dlamini Road, and is a small operation where everything is made by hand daily. So far the deli counter, laden with delicious baked treats, has been selling out by 9am. Don’t miss the pasteis de nata (golden crisp crusts filled with deliciously gooey custard) or the bite-sized Death by Chocolate doughnuts filled with flavoured custard and topped with dark Belgian chocolate shavings, or blobs of decadent white chocolate custard – it’s sinfully good.

 

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A post shared by Courtney Stuart (@doughgirlza) on Aug 20, 2019 at 4:43am PDT

That’s not all. Think lemon meringue slices; chocolate brownie slabs; buttery, flaky hand-rolled croissants in plain, three-cheese, mixed berry cheesecake, custard or chocolate; and cookies the size of your hand. If you want to be in the know about the latest creations, keep an eye on her Instagram.

 

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A post shared by Courtney Stuart (@doughgirlza) on Oct 10, 2019 at 4:57am PDT

Of course there are savoury options, too. Last week that included pies with fillings ranging from chicken, artichoke and lemon to spicy tomato beef. There’s also a beetroot, feta and red onion one to die for. All come perfectly baked and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Prodigy Coffee is expertly brewed in the usual iterations, and the iced coffee is perfect on a hot Durban day.

 

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A post shared by Courtney Stuart (@doughgirlza) on Oct 15, 2019 at 10:26pm PDT

Dough Girl is open Mondays to Saturdays for breakfast and lunch, but does tend to sell out early, so make sure get there early.

Brought to you by Retail Capital, sponsors of the Eat Out Retail Capital New Restaurant of the Year Award. Want to find more new restaurants in your city? Check out our new restaurants section.