Pączki is pronounced Poonch–key. The Pączki sign was in the bakery window as my friend Donna and I were headed to her home after eating breakfast in Dormont. I had never heard of them.We parked and I went into the bakery and Lynn was wonderful to tell me all about the Pączki. I bought six, three for Donna and three for Steve and me. Lynn put each order in white bakery bags. When we got back to Donna’s we cut one in half and shared it along with a cup of tea.
If you live in Pittsburgh they are available through Fat Tuesday at the Party Cake Shop on Brookline Boulevard.
Here is what the Party Cake Shop says “Pączki is a pre-Lenten Mardi Gras tradition deriving from the Polish word meaning little package.
These little packages are large pastries enriched with egg yolks and deep fried like a doughnut. Each Paczki is available plain or filled with various fillings that include: vanilla custard, lemon, apricot, buttercream, chocolate buttercream, raspberry jelly, or prune and finished off with a toss in granulated sugar. “
The taste reminded me of a fresh doughnut from childhood. Much tastier than any doughnut I have eaten in years. I see there are recipes online to make your own but a trip to Party Cake Shop would be well worth the effort. Last summer visiting friends took the ‘Burgh Bits and Bites Food Tourin Pittsburgh’s neighborhood of Brookline.
Today some friends brought over this fancy box of Pączki from the Oakmont Bakery, decorated with a Mardi Gras mask. What a nice surprise to find on the porch. Steve and I cut one in half and shared it.
Later we cut another one in half and shared it. So a total of one apiece but two different fillings on Monday.
Looking forward to Tuesday’s sampling. The idea is to eat the last of rich fatty treats prior to Ash Wednesday that marks the beginning of Lent.
Two years ago I posted how my friend Donna introduced me to Pączki in the Brookline neighborhood Party Cake Shop bakery. (pronounced Poonch-Key or Punch-Key) Pączki means “little package” in Polish. It is a traditional filled baked good fried in deep fat and filled with different fruit or cream fillings. They can be glazed or sugared on the outside.
on Bakery Case in the Party Cake Shop in BrooklineHere is a fruit filled one. Some have custard or cream. Pączki is from 2019 post at Party Cake Shop BakeryA sign in the Party Cake Shop window
A knitting friend, book club colleague and neighbor invited me for soup and this was dessert. A hearty winter lunch. I walked around the block in the snow. Most people had shoveled. It took twice as long to get there, though
I bought a loaf of marble rye at the Bryant Street market this morning. When I went to make a sandwich with a couple of slices, they were staring at me.
I made and photographed a Rainbow Jell-o recipe in a Bundt pan as the mold. A clear layer then the other portion with a bit of yogurt. Took hours as each layer had to set before you could pour in the next.
I thought I had a future in abstract photography using jell-o 😂
