- The intricacies of making doughnuts
The Doughnuttery, an online bakery, has made a name for itself for whipping up deliciously decorated, sizable doughnuts. Brunch spoke to the two co- founders Amaani (26) and Aliza (24) – two self-taught sisters, who without any experience in the culinary world, still managed to build and establish a bakery to learn more about their craft.
What inspired The Doughnuttery?
The Doughnuttery is a business that was born purely out of our obsession over doughnuts and the desire to start a business of our own. We knew that we wanted to build something of our own as the corporate sector was not our cup of tea, so The Doughnuttery was born. Right now, our cloud bakery is currently home-based and is overlooked by the two of us. Between the two of us, we have made the business work by dividing tasks like preparation, organisation, designing and execution.
How did you perfect the art of baking doughnuts?
We have ALWAYS wanted to do something different and unique – doughnuts have always been something that we absolutely adored. We were constantly on the hunt, trying to find that “perfect doughnut” in Colombo; doughnuts that would have a perfect texture, generous toppings and an array of flavours but we couldn’t find anything that ticked all those boxes so we thought, why not start by testing out the waters and experimenting with new recipes.
Eventually, after trying countless recipes, we finally ended up creating one of our own that fit all those requirements in order to make a strong impact in the world of doughnuts.
What challenges did you face along the way and how did you overcome it?
It was challenging at the beginning to find that perfect recipe, build up a customer base and find an efficient delivery service that would go that extra mile to deliver the doughnuts as perfect as we dispatched them. But eventually, after much trial and error on all fronts, we figured it out, and business is going strong.
We currently work on a pre-order basis so we only prepare fresh batches of dough in order to deliver the best possible product. This way, we can arrange the delivery early as well as perfect each and every doughnut.
In your opinion, how long would it take to become a recognised baker?
There is no specific time period really; it all depends on how you present your product and market it. Also, remember to be kind no matter what; that makes a huge impact on people. There’s a saying “kindness never goes out of style”, such is true especially when you market it on social media, so always make sure you pay close attention to detail.
What do you love the most about your job as a baker?
We absolutely love that we can be our own bosses and work according to the visions that we both have. The two of us have always loved art since we were kids so we use decorating doughnuts as a creative outlet to express our creativity as well. The colours and ideas we use to decorate are a reflection of how much we love doing what we do.
What advice would you give to those that wish to follow in your footsteps?
Ask yourself what you truly would enjoy doing and pursue it with all your heart! It doesn’t really matter what people say or think, you’ve got to keep running and not look back. We have had quite a lot of people demotivate us and tell us to get into stereotypical careers but that’s not where our hearts are at so we blocked the haters out and simply kept doing what we love passionately. Our biggest support system is our family and to them we are forever grateful for constantly having our backs and pushing us to do better!
Anything else you would like to add?
We personally believe that we have come this far because of our faith in the goodness of God, perseverance and because we chose to follow what we were passionate about.
Instagram: @thedoughnuttery
