A warm, mouth-watering pastry that is filled to the brim with jam and covered in powdered sugar is the ultimate Fat Tuesday cuisine to indulge in before Lent. The pączki.
The pączki dates back to the 16th century when it was more of a savory treat. Back then, they were made with bacon or pork fat and baked with a harder, more firm dough. It later became a sweet, softer pastry eaten as a dessert.
Fat Tuesday is more often celebrated in the United States while in Poland, they celebrate Fat Thursday. Pączkis are and can be eaten on both days. Both lead up to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Catholic Lent.
This year, Fat Thursday is on Feb. 8, Fat Tuesday is on Feb. 13 and Ash Wednesday is on Feb. 14.
Big Rapids resident Mary Kilmek shares her time as a kid cooking pączki in the kitchen with her mom.
“My mom made pączki from a recipe that her mother used,” Kilmek said. “Both [of them] were fantastic cooks, a gift I didn’t receive. I remember her making them many times throughout my childhood and I was able to help when I finally was old enough. My favorite part about it was getting to coat the pączki which my mom pronounced poonch-key.”
Nancy Sanchez is of Polish descent and enjoys spending her time in the kitchen making Polish recipes.
“My sister and I traveled to Poland this past summer to really embrace our roots,” Sanchez said. “With our parents and grandparents gone, we want to make sure our children and grandchildren know about their heritage.”
Lent is a 40-day period of fasting that prepares Christians for Easter. In Poland, the most common religion practiced is Catholicism, which is why Fat Thursday before Lent is so important. During Fat Thursday, there is typically a feast of food, and this is when the pączkis are made.
Big Rapids local Jeff Kingfish shares memories of his grandmother, whom he calls Busia, making homemade pączkis. In his family, making pączki was a labor of love.
“I remember her mixing the dough with no mixers,” Kingfish said. “She would make a large batch for my aunts and uncles too. Even though I was young, only seven or eight, it seemed like a lot of work to me.”Traditionally, the inside of the pączki would be filled with prune jam. Today, there are many different types of toppings and fillings inside a pączki. Many people of Polish descent say these are just doughnuts. However, pączkis are typically twice the size of a normal donut.
“I would only eat the outside of the pączki because they were only prune filling which my Busia also made herself,” Kingfish said. “They were always very light and delicious.”
While they may not be authentically Polish, Wesco, located on Perry St., is a well-known spot for Big Rapids pączki enjoyers. Their flavors go beyond prune filling in 2024.
- Cherry glazed
- Raspberry with white frosting
- Blueberry glazed with blue drizzle
- Strawberry glazed with red drizzle
- Lemon with yellow frosting
- Apple rolled in cinnamon and sugar
- Peanut butter with Reese’s
- Horchata
- Bavarian cream
- White Holland créme
- Caramel cream
- Cookies and cream
These can be pre-ordered on https://www.gowesco.com/paczki.html and can be picked up in stores on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Willow Price, a resident of Big Rapids, describes how making these delicious treats is a way to use up ingredients in the house that are typically given up during Lent.
“When making them, they’d take everything sweet in the house and put it into [pączkis] because it had to be gone before the fast,” Price said. “It is not a jelly bun, what we have these days are over-sensationalized jelly buns.”
Pączkis are often made with eggs, fat, sugar, butter and fruits. These ingredients, alongside meat, are typically given up during the 40-day fasting period of Lent.
The unique dessert can be found in many bakeries around the community such as Bernie’s Place, Jack’s Italian Bakery and Wesco. Or try cooking it from home, with this recipe that was passed down through generations in Mary Kilmek’s family.