
A “tasty” pastry whose tradition came from Poland is a definite hit for the day before Lent begins, also known as Fat Tuesday.
Kieran McGrath, owner of Bakery On State in Manitowoc, tells Seehafer News he thinks people like to get into the festive spirit no matter what it is, and that includes the paczki.
“Whether you celebrate Fat Tuesday or not, the paczki is associated with Fat Tuesday,” McGrath explained. “I think anytime you have something coming up, people really like to clamp onto that and indulge in it while they can, because they know it doesn’t stick around all year long.”
McGrath describes it as a “different take” on a raised donut.
“There is a little bit of grain alcohol that’s added which eventually evaporates, but if helps to seal out the oil when you are frying, which leads to a puffier pastry on the inside,” he explained. “We substitute eggs for a little bit of water which also adds to that difference in texture, and there’s a little bit of shortening that goes in as well, which leads to that crispy [exterior] but fluffy inside.”
And of course, they fill it with whatever they want.
So, what does he see as the favorite flavor?
“I would definitely say the raspberry paczki with the granulated sugar is definitely the one we sell the most of,” McGrath said. “We are introducing lemon this year. We in the past have only done four flavors, the raspberry, the custard with powdered sugar, prune with powdered sugar, and poppy seed, which is also very popular with powdered sugar.”
Kieran also told us that he expects to easily go through 75 to 100 dozen paczkis.
Bakery On State is closed on February 28th but will be open tomorrow Fat Tuesday and they will sell the sweet tradition the rest of the week, while supplies last.