Just a friendly reminder, Paczki’s season is fast approaching. The Polish celebration of Fat Tuesday, which is on March 1, is the last opportunity to enjoy before the fasting days of Lent. As tradition goes, that means Paczki time, especially in Michigan, but what exactly is a Paczki?
The Polish tradition of indulging in fried dough filled with jam, custard or other sweet surprises dates back to the Middle Ages. In those days, Lent meant that meat and meat products, such as butter and eggs, could not be eaten during that time. Ingenious cooks in Poland used up all their dairy and eggs for the past week and made crepe-like pancakes and donuts called paczki (POHNCH-kee). Due to its roots in Polish, North American communities, particularly in the large Polish communities of Chicago, Detroit, and other large cities in the Midwest and Northeast, Paczki Day is a staple celebration.
Exactly how many calories are in a Paczki?
Those little Polish jelly donuts that we love so much aren’t exactly fat-free. Each can contain 300 to 500 calories and 25 g of fat in a delicious, sugar-coated hockey puck. With delicious flavors like apricot, raspberry, prune and custard and gourmet fillings like fresh strawberries and whipped cream, it’s hard not to indulge. My personal favorite is any jelly-filled Paczki, which will give me 330 calories and a whopping 48 carbs. Oh!
If you want to get your Paczki fix in a glass, we’ve got you covered. Detroit City Distillery will once again sell Paczki Day Vodka this month for an interesting twist on the Fat Tuesday tradition. This year’s batch will be made from Paczki raspberry from New Palace Bakery in Hamtramck and potato vodka from Michigan and Poland. The bottles will go on sale Friday, February 11 at 8:00 am at the City of Detroit Distillery for $35 each.
Many favorite local bakeries are already taking orders for Fat Tuesday, like Donna’s Donuts on Bristol Road and Crust in Fenton. You may want to consider ordering ahead of time to ensure you get all of your favorite flavors for that big March 1st binge.
LOOK: Food history since the year you were born
.