Alphabet Doughnuts

Alphabet Doughnuts

Guys. Have you been seeing alphabet doughnuts everywhere like I have? I just love them. They always seem to come from California Donuts down in LA (they're as delicious as they look btw...best yeast doughnut I've ever had) or I've also seen them come from Provo Bakery in Utah. Unfortunately I'm not very close to either. After looking everywhere for a tutorial online I found absolutely nothing. So I decided to just give it a try myself and...well they turned out not too shabby as you can see. The recipe I adapted from Pioneer Woman's glazed doughnuts is below, but here is all that I learned for your reference: 1) all I could find on short notice was these plastic alphabet cookie cutters from Michael's. They're quite small so I was very afraid that my letters would become warped and indistinguishable while rising and being fried. Not the case. A few turned out weird, but most turned out quite well, and the small imperfections are rustic and charming. 2) If you still want tighter, well-formed letters, shorten the second rising time. The doughnuts may not be as fluffy, but they still taste good (in my undeveloped tongue's opinion). And 3) try making a few of each letter you need as insurance. That way you are certain to get a really pretty one.

Now. If you looked at my photos and are wondering what SoFab is...let me tell you!

SoFab, or Social Fabric, is an awesome community of bloggers and influencers run by Collective Bias, a company that connects influencers with sponsors. I've worked with them a ton over the past year or so and they are amazeballs. They offer a SoFab University as a great resource for learning and growing your business, and also hold conferences across the country for the same reason. SoFabU OTR is what they're called (Social Fabric University on the road) and I would adore going to one. This blog post is my entry into a contest they're holding to win a trip to one of the conferences. Wish me luck! And check out my stop-motion video at the bottom or on my Instagram :)

Why I want to attend: besides being able to learn and grow my blog more, one of the downsides of blogging is not enough human interaction. There is constant interaction with people who are halfway across the world and who you will probably never meet in real life. SoFab offers an amazing support system and community of bloggers, but I love the idea of a conference that actually brings these people together to learn from each other and inspire each other face to face. Plus when people ask me about blogging it's always a foreign and strange concept and hard for me to explain. I'd love for a while to be around like-minded people who really get it.

What the experience would mean to me: Just looking at the list of Brooklyn's featured speakers is insanely exciting. Recently I was able to be an audience member for a Creative Live class on SEO. It was given by a millionaire SEO expert who contracted with very large companies, and most of the audience members were SEO consultants looking to progress the startups they were working for. There was a wealth of information given and I loved the knowledge I had attained, but when I got home I realized that a lot of it didn't really apply to a small-time blogger such as myself. So just reading the description for Alea Milham's Brooklyn class and how she plans to cater to bloggers, help us create our own growth strategy and even walk us through the SEO optimization of a personal blog post is exciting. When I started blogging I knew nothing about SEO, social media marketing, photography, etc. I have learned everything on my own and am proud of the progress I've made, but am so ready to make connections with inspiring people and soak in the knowledge I can gain at SoFabU on the Road.

What the experience will empower me to do after the conference: I'm well aware of my strengths and weaknesses. I work hard and put a lot of effort into my content, but my marketing skills need improvement. If I can learn from experts how to make my blog just a little better, get it seen more and raise my traffic even a bit, then I will consider it a huge success.

City I would like to attend: Both Chicago and Brooklyn would be amazing, but my first choice would be Brookyln.

If you're a blogger or interested in becoming one, or just interested, check out the SoFab on the Road website for more info. Here is the lineup:

Brooklyn 5/14
Chicago 7/9
Dallas 9/17
LA 10/1

Are you close to any of the conferences? LA would have been the closest for me, but we are moving by then! >.< #SoFabUOTR

Alphabet Doughnuts

Doughnuts:

• 1-1/8 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 pkg instant yeast (2-1/4 tsp)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1-1/4 sticks butter, melted and cooled
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• canola oil (a lot)

Glaze:

• 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2-3 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (opt.)
• food coloring
• sprinkles

Directions:

Heat milk until it is warm, not too hot. Pour the sugar into the milk and stir to dissolve. Place yeast in a small bowl and pour the warm milk over it. Let rest for 10 minutes. 

In a separate small bowl, beat your eggs, then add your butter while mixing continuously. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Turn to medium speed and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix for a couple of minutes until well combined. 

While still mixing, gradually add the flour about 1/2 cup at a time. Once it's all combined, mix for another 5 minutes. Scrape if needed, then mix for 30 seconds more. Let rest for 10 minutes. 

Spray a large mixing bowl with oil. Transfer your dough to the oiled bowl, then cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Prep a few cookie sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper dusted with flour. 

Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out your dough to around 1/4 inch thick. Use your alphabet cookie cutters to make letters and place them on your prepped cookie sheets. Roll together leftover scraps, let the dough rest a few minutes, then repeat until done. Cover with tea towels and let rise in a warm, dry place for at least an hour until they look fluffy. 

Before the dough is quite risen, fill a heavy-bottomed pot almost halfway with oil on your stovetop and bring the temperature to 375F. You want it to level off perfectly at 375F, so start this long before you plan on frying, and monitor the temperature well. Prep some pans or plates with paper towels for your fried doughnuts. 

Once the temperature has leveled off at 375F, place a few doughnuts into the hot oil and fry for one minute. Turn them over and fry for one more minute. Remove from oil and let rest on paper towels. Let the temperature rise back to 375F if needed, and repeat until done. 

For the glaze:

In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients until smooth. Divide into three separate shallow bowls. Add food coloring as desired to each bowl. Dip the tops of your doughnuts into the glaze and immediately add sprinkles. Set aside to dry. Best eaten within the day.

Doughnut recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman.