Foodcraft Espresso's "pretty lethal" Tella ball shake. Photo: Supplied

For such a simple equation it's a wonder we haven't seen it at more cafes more often: Nutella plus a doughnut plus a milkshake equals social media (and sales) success.

Erskineville cafe Foodcraft Espresso is creating waves of inner-west Instagram excitement with its "Tella ball shake". That's a Nutella-filled doughnut perched on top of a Nutella milkshake. A straw is threaded through the doughnut so you can slurp up its delicious filling, a la Garth from Wayne's World.

"We came up with the shake last week after trying to be creative in the kitchen," says Aki Daikos, who opened Foodcraft Espresso with his business partner Simon Kappatos in May. "It just went mental with customers and on social media over the weekend."

An Instagram post of the shake via the account @breakfastinsydney received more than 2000 comments and 3500 likes in 20 hours.

Next level Nutella situation... Thanks @afengalicious Tella ball Nutella milkshake Foodcraft Espresso - Erskineville #sydney #breakfastinsydney #foodcraftespresso A photo posted by BreakfastinSydney (@breakfastinsydney) on Aug 2, 2015 at 9:28pm PDT

The Tella ball shake costs $10 and is "off menu", meaning you have to be in the social media know to ask for it. It contains three scoops of Nutella and vanilla bean ice-cream blended with ice. Topped with a Tella ball doughnut, "it's pretty lethal", Daikos says.

Individually, the Tella balls ($4.50 each) come in four flavours: the signature Nutella, salted caramel, vanilla bean ricotta and five-berry jam.

Foodcraft Espresso makes the Tella balls onsite and also sells the doughnuts to about 50 cafes in Sydney. About 800 Tella balls were made on the weekend, says Daikos, and still sold out due to demand for the shake.

Canberra is no stranger to the allure of Nutella-shakes either, with cafe Patissez achieving Facebook fame with its "freakshake". Forget three spoonfuls of Nutella, Patissez uses a third of a large jar.


We suspect this won't be the last time you'll be hearing about Nutella doughnuts, Nutella milkshakes, or Nutella doughnut milkshakes as the battle for hazelnut spread supremacy continues (see also The Vogue Cafe at Macquarie Park).

NUTELLA DONUT ERMAHGERD @foodcraftespresso A photo posted by Susan Thye (@chocolatesuze) on Aug 3, 2015 at 3:38am PDT

Just died and went to Nutella heaven... #tellaball #foodcraft #sydneyeats #nutella A photo posted by Becca Diep (@beccadiep) on Jul 4, 2015 at 8:47pm PDT

Foodcraft Espresso, 33 Bridge Street, Erskineville, (02) 8971 8817, Tue-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat-Sun 8am-4pm.