Ever Hear of Paczki Day??

Having spent a number of years on the planet, I learned something today thay I had not heard about before--
PACZKI DAY!
It is apparently celebrated big time in the Detroit area and other areas with a heavy Polish population.
It's the Polish version of Fat Tuesday, AKA Mardi Gras and Shrove Tuesday!
Mardi Gras has King Cake, Shrove Tuesday has Pancakes and Paczki Day has JELLY/CREAM Filled Donuts!
We saw an ad from a local food chain offering these one-day-only delights, so off we went to see what it was all about. The store was busy with people grabbing up boxes of these Donut Delights. We got Raspberry & Lemon filled. They're good!
Here's the story:
http://detroit.about.com/od/peoplelifestyles/a/Paczki_Day_in_Hamtramck_and_Detroit.htm
 
Those of youze familiar with this tradition please tell us your stories!

How'd you miss it??
 
Actually, traditional paczkis don't have jelly or cream, they're made with stewed prunes inside. People have bastardized them because no one likes to eat prunes. If you ever get a chance to eat a REAL one (e.g. not one you can buy at a grocery store, but rather baked by a Polish bakery), count yourself among the fortunate few. The ones in grocery stores are nothing more than jelly-filled donuts that have sugar on them. NOT the same!

According to this "authentic" recipe, paczkis may have prunes, but other fillings are acceptable.

http://deep-fried.food.co...ic-polish-paczki-83936

True...but according to my best friend's Polish grandmother (who emigrated from Poland), it's gotta be prunes.
 
I'm sure it's like anything else, where everyone has a "traditional" recipe. But I can guarantee that neither lemon nor cream fillings are at all traditional.

Personally, the prune would be just fine with me. In fact, I have a couple dozen of Millie's pierogis, prune filling, in my freezer and prune Danish is probably my favorite when I can find them. pb

Foodbme - I flew in a load of poonchskis from Milwaukee last night, delivering some to the Slav from Chicago I work with.  If I'd known you were hankering some prune-ski paczkies, I would have arranged a drop off.  Maybe next year.
Jim

JRPfeff

Foodbme - I flew in a load of poonchskis from Milwaukee last night, delivering some to the Slav from Chicago I work with.  If I'd known you were hankering some prune-ski paczkies, I would have arranged a drop off.  Maybe next year.
Jim

I didn't even know such things existed until this AM when my bride told me about Basha's Ad. I'm sure what we bought is nothing like the real deal. The ones we bought look and taste just like plain old jelly/cream donuts. Put me on the list for next year.
Same holds true for King Cakes. The ones out here bear no resemblance to the ones in Louisiana.
I'm having Red Beans and Rice for dinner.

got my dozen today at my fav polish bakery today.they are filled with raspberry jelly now as no one seems to eat prunes anymore.another polish fav of mine is czarnina soup [duck soup].another polish holiday coming up is called dyngus day.the mon after easter ,sort of like a st. patties day for the polish out here.its a party where u drink and dance and eat and get hit with pussie willows by the ladies as an offer to dance.

Interesting  a friend of mine that lives in Toledo, OH told me just today not to eat too many Paczkis.
 
I'd never heard of them before and here they are again.

How is "paczki" pronounced?

Punch-key

Paczki's are HUGE in the Chicago area! Many bakeries make 10+ varieties. You can get them at bakeries and all of the large supermarkets.
 
Pooch key is what I mostly hear.

Poonch-key. Officially, from the Polish grandmother.

Here's a story about a Green Bay-area (Pulaski) bakery and its paczkis.
 
Brad

I had to laugh, seems like Mardi Gras King cakes have gone the same way as packzis.  Traditiononal king cakes were made with a bricoche type dough and not overly sweet.  If it was filled at all, it was with an almond paste.  There's a couple of bakeries around town,(www.mauricefrenchpastries.com)  that specialize in this type of king cake.
 
Then about 25 years ago, one bakery changed the dough, so that now most all king cakes taste like a cinnamon roll.  And the variety of fillings are endless.  Each year there's a new flavor out, which this year seems a toss up between praline, and turtle(caramel and chocolate).  If you get a plain king cake with no filling, it's marked as "traditional."
 
 

No strong Polish ethnic presence here so I've never heard of packzis. interesting to learn about.
 

LOL.....on a different type of website ( Second life), we had a LONG discussion about these yesterday.  Seems Polish Folks all have a particular idea about what makes a "perfect" packzis.  I had never heard of them before either.  You think the Hot Dog and Pizza "wars" get heated, get 3 Polish decendents in a chat on these and .............OMG

I have heard of this day as my sister lives in Chicago and has told me that it is a big deal there.  However, i did not know that we now have a good source here in Columbus and it is right near my house.  See the link for some pics from Babushka's Kitchen.  The prune one actually looks pretty good.  I know where I'll be next year.
 
http://breakfastwithnick.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/photos-paczki-with-johnny/

FriedClamFanatic


LOL.....on a different type of website ( Second life), we had a LONG discussion about these yesterday.  Seems Polish Folks all have a particular idea about what makes a "perfect" packzis.  I had never heard of them before either.  You think the Hot Dog and Pizza "wars" get heated, get 3 Polish decendents in a chat on these and .............OMG

Oh god. That just made my hair stand on end!!!

I'm glad this forum turned out to be so educational for everyone!

Just noticed that the bakery dept. at our local Publix had several versions on sale. We tried the raspberry and enjoyed it more than the regular Publix donuts. I'm sure it's not in the league with the more traditional versions. 

For about ten years or so, I have pre=ordered and pre-paid for paczki's from Ingrams Busy Bee Bakery ion Downers Grove. 
 
My standard is order is between 80 -100 depending on how many neighbors ask for a box.
 
This particular location sells out of 10,000 each Fat Tuesday.  On that day, no other products are available in the store.
 
Their flavor list is some 20 choices long, which was reduced by 3-4 this year. 
 
I selected my pick-up time for 6am, arrived at 5:40am to find a line out the door for the non pre-pay or pre-order.  The window lights weren't even turned on as they officially open at 6am.
 
While I didn't count the employees, this little neighborhood bakery had over 20 employees on duty...and all busily assisting customers in this annual ritual.
 
Favorite flavors of mine include poppy seed, chocolate chip and cheese (sorta like a cannoli), blueberry, blueberry and cheese and of course, chocolate covered bavarian creme!
 
The fruit only and poppy will freeze fairly well for enjoyment over the next few months.  Not so with the cheese or cremes.
 
For us/me, it's a tradition!  Lots of fun!

CTD-
What a great tradition!  You are undoubtedly the most popular man on your block every Fat Tuesday.  I'm thinking the poppyseed sounds best.
 
Considering that Pittsburgh has a fairly large Polish community, it is surprising that I had never heard of these until you told me about them. No idea where to get a paczki around here. 

Our local Haddad's West Peoria Market had Bavarian Cream & Raspberry fillings with either a glaze or powdered sugar on top.  I got a package of Bavarian with glaze and  another with Raspberry with powdered sugar (and I live alone).

My grandaughter, who spent 2 years teaching in Krakow, just informed me that the prune filled ARE the most traditional. Also, she told me that they have/had them at our local Publix last week. Who knew? Pb

buffetbuster


CTD-
What a great tradition!  You are undoubtedly the most popular man on your block every Fat Tuesday.  I'm thinking the poppyseed sounds best.

Considering that Pittsburgh has a fairly large Polish community, it is surprising that I had never heard of these until you told me about them. No idea where to get a paczki around here. 

 
In Pittsburgh, I've seen them at Giant Eagle. I'm sure there are bakeries that do a great job, though I'd have to call around to find out which. (I'd probably call up S&D Polish Deli and ask for their recommendations.)
I think I heard that Jean-Marc Chatellier's French Bakery was selling them this year, but I'm not at all sure about that.