Pączki is a Polish pastry, not too far off from a doughnut. It’s deep fried dough filled with a cream or sweet jelly. They can be glazed or covered with a powdered sugar. They are typically eaten on Pączki Day in Poland, also known as Fat Tuesday, because their consumption was forbidden by the Catholic fasting practices during Lent. You’ll see celebrations of Pączki Day in US cities with large Polish populations like Buffalo, Detroit, and Chicago. Hamtramck, MI even has an annual Pączki Day parade!
What are Paczki?
Pączki are essentially donuts, made by frying dough, filling with a variety of fruit or custard fillings, and coated with sugar. Paczki are made from a rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar, yeast and sometimes milk, so they tend to be a little more rich and dense than a typical donut. Packzi can have a variety of fruit or cream fillings. They can be glazed or covered with either granulated or powdered sugar. In Poland, a stewed plum jam or a wild rose hip jam are the most traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, apple, prune or custard.
When are Paczki eaten?
In Poland, Paczki are eaten on Fat Thursday, which is the last Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday (prior to lent). The traditional reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, in preparation for the fasting of Lent ahead.
In North America, Paczki Day typically occurs on Fat Tuesday, the last day before the beginning of Lent. In some communities with large Polish populations, Paczki day is celebrated on both Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesdy.
So how can you celebrate Pączki day with your own treats? Well we have a great recipe right here. It turns out one secret to making these delicious treats is to add some grain alcohol to the batter which according to some prevents the dough from absorbing quite as much oil. We filled these pączkis with a custard filling, but if you’d prefer something more fruity, use 1 1/2 cups of your favorite preserves instead. Keep reading below for this recipe…
For Ingredients And Complete Cooking Instructions Please Head On Over To Next Page Or Open button (>) and don’t forget to SHARE with your Facebook friends
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