What Makes Pączki Different From Donuts?

Every year, as Mardi Gras approaches, a delightful Polish pastry called pączki (pronounced "poonch-key") appears in many bakeries around the country. They look like sugar-coated jelly donuts, right up to the fruit jams that ooze out from their sides. Despite how they look, pączki are much richer and denser than your average donut, making them the perfect treats to enjoy during Fat Tuesday and the days surrounding it.

The delicious dough is made with lots of eggs, milk, yeast, high-gluten flour, and butter, which is what makes it so rich. Think of a heavy, enriched brioche dough to get an idea of what it's like. Pączki are also sometimes made with a little alcohol to prevent the dough from absorbing too much oil when it is dropped into the fat for frying. 

The centers of these sweets are traditionally filled with plum or rose petal jam, but more modern fancy flavors of pączki might include like citrus curds, chocolate, custards, creams, or fruit jams. Sweet and fluffy, pączki taste like rich donuts — just a bit more special and indulgent.

It's thought that pączki originally came about in Poland in the Middle Ages. As the 40-day fasting period known as Lent approached, families did not want to waste precious ingredients like butter and sugar. So, before Lent began, people combined their eggs, butter or lard, and sugar with flour to make pączki, and feasted on them. 

The tradition continues today, with people in Poland eating pączki on what is known as Fat Thursday (the Thursday before Ash Wednesday). In America, this is a Fat Tuesday tradition, although some families enjoy the donuts on both "Fat" days — and days in between, of course.

You're more likely to find prepared and packaged pączki in cities with large Polish populations, like Detroit, Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. If you can't find them near where you live and decide to make your own, there's a world of flavors you can play with. Instead of a traditional coating of sugar, you can ice or glaze your pączki, and decorate the top with dried fruit, nuts, or sprinkles. Cut them in half and fill with a scoop of ice cream or a large dollop of freshly whipped cream (one ingredient Ina Garten won't buy) – and layer them with freeze-dried fruit and your favorite jam, jelly, or marmalade.