Paczki
Photo: myself (User:Piotrus) · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Pączki are pan-Polish but the Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek) tradition is national, observed the last Thursday before Lent every February. Cukiernia Paradowski in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, open since spring 1945, runs the city's most-photographed queue every year. The pre-war recipe came with Stefan Paradowski from Warsaw's Ziemiańska pastry shop in 1945, and the bakery still fries them in the original rendered lard. Rose-petal jam is the canonical filling; the modern menu rotates plum, custard and advocaat.

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Warsaw

Guided tour · 3h 30m

Warsaw: Polish Food Tour

The Polish food tour is a great way to experience a must-try cuisine of this amazing country. A professional guide will teach you all there is to...

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 16Hands-on 45 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white bread flour
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 10g instant dried yeast
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 180ml whole milk, warm
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 large whole egg
  • 60ml dark rum or vodka (the alcohol stops fat absorption)
  • 100g unsalted butter, softened
  • 500ml lard, for frying (or neutral oil if lard is unavailable)
  • 300g wild rose petal jam or thick plum butter (powidła), chilled
  • 150g icing sugar, for the glaze
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Candied orange peel, finely diced, to finish

Method

  1. Combine the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and lemon zest in a stand mixer bowl.
  2. Whisk the warm milk with the yolks, whole egg and rum. Pour into the dry ingredients and knead on low for 8 minutes.
  3. Add the softened butter a piece at a time, kneading another 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  4. Cover and prove until doubled, about 90 minutes.
  5. Knock back and divide into 16 pieces (about 55g each). Shape into tight balls and place on a floured tray. Cover and prove 45 minutes until puffy.
  6. Heat the lard to 170C in a deep wide pan. Slide paczki in 3 or 4 at a time, smooth-side down, and fry covered for 2 minutes.
  7. Flip and fry uncovered for 2 more minutes until deep gold all over and the equator shows a pale white ring.
  8. Drain on a rack. Cool 15 minutes.
  9. Fill a piping bag with rose jam fitted with a long thin nozzle. Pierce each paczek from the side and pipe in 1 1/2 tsp of jam.
  10. Whisk the icing sugar with the lemon juice to a smooth, pourable glaze. Spoon over the top of each paczek and finish with a sprinkle of candied orange peel.

Tip from the editors. Frying covered for the first 2 minutes gives the white ring around the middle, the visual mark of a real paczek. Frying at 170C, not hotter, keeps the inside cooked through.

Where to eat paczki

Paczki in Buffalo

Broadway Market ★ 4.4

$ Market

Broadway Market on the East Side has been Buffalo's Polish food anchor since 1888, with Chrusciki and White Eagle bakeries, Camellia Meats and pierogi.

Directions

Paula's Donuts (Williamsville) ★ 4.5

$ BakerySour-cream and yeast donutsWalk-in only

Paula's Donuts at the Williamsville Main Street shop fries oversized sour-cream and yeast donuts daily, a Western New York obsession with morning lines.

Worth the queueSour-cream glazed donut

Directions

Paula's Donuts (Sheridan Drive) ★ 4.4

$ BakerySour-cream and yeast donutsWalk-in only

Paula's Donuts on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda is the original location of the Buffalo-area oversized donut chain, with Texas-sized sour-cream glazed.

Worth the queueSour-cream glazed

Directions

All Buffalo signature dishes →

Paczki in Cleveland

Presti's Bakery ★ 4.7

$ BakeryItalian-American pastries and breadsLittle ItalyWalk-in only

Presti's Bakery on Mayfield Road in Little Italy since 1903, one of Cleveland's oldest bakeries, anchors the Cleveland-style cassata cake tradition.

Worth the queueCassata cake

Directions

Corbo's Bakery ★ 4.6

$ BakeryItalian-American pastriesLittle ItalyWalk-in only

Corbo's Bakery on Mayfield Road in Little Italy since 1958, the family-owned bakery known for cassata cake and cannoli, has expanded to a full Italian menu.

Worth the queueCassata cake

Directions

Michael Angelo's Bakery ★ 4.4

$ BakeryItalian-American wedding cake and cassataBroadview HeightsWalk-in only

Michael Angelo's Bakery on Broadview Road in Broadview Heights, an Italian-American bakery since 2000, runs cassata cake, cannoli and a 2026 spring food menu.

Worth the queueCassata cake

Directions

All Cleveland signature dishes →

Paczki in Detroit

New Palace Bakery ★ 4.7

$ BakeryPolish paczki and pastriesHamtramckWalk-in only

New Palace Bakery on Joseph Campau in Hamtramck has baked Polish paczki and pastries in metro Detroit since 1908. At 9833 Joseph Campau Ave.

Worth the queuePaczki on Fat Tuesday

TipOn Paczki Day before Lent the line wraps the block. Open until midnight that Tuesday.

Directions

Srodek's Campau Quality Sausage ★ 4.5

$$ Modern PolishHamtramck

Srodek's Campau Quality Sausage is family-run polish deli on joseph campau, neighborhood-only crowd; pierogi in the freezer case are the deep cut.

Why locals goFamily-run Polish deli on Joseph Campau, neighborhood-only crowd; pierogi in the freezer case are the deep cut.

TipPierogi by the dozen frozen; smoked kielbasa is the Easter and Christmas Eve staple.

Directions

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Paczki in Gdańsk

Cukiernia Paradowski ★ 4.6

$ BakeryPre-war Polish patisserie recipesWalk-in only

Cukiernia Paradowski in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz is the city's oldest active confectionery, opened spring 1945 by Stefan Paradowski. Son Andrzej still runs the shop.

Worth the queuePączki on Fat Thursday

TipOn Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek, the last Thursday before Lent), the queue stretches down Wajdeloty.

Directions

Pellowski Piekarnia Cukiernia Kawiarnia ★ 4.2

$ BakeryPomeranian rye breads and family-recipe pastriesWalk-in only

Pellowski in Gdańsk is the family bakery on Długa, with branches across the city. Open mon-sat 06:30-19:00, sun 08:00-15:00. At ul. Długa 40.

Worth the queuePoppy-seed bread

TipThe Długa branch fills fast at lunchtime; the larger Słupska Street store is calmer.

Directions

Cukiernia Le Delice ★ 4.5

$ BakeryFrench laminated pastriesWalk-in only

Le Delice in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz works a tight cukiernia-piekarnia format on Partyzantów. Croissants out of the oven about 09:30; the chocolate ones go fastest.

Worth the queueAll-butter croissant

TipCroissants out of the oven about 09:30; the chocolate ones go fastest.

Directions

All Gdańsk signature dishes →

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