Paczki, a Polish donut filled with tradition.

Paczki, a fluffy pastry deep-fried to a golden brown perfection, are renowned for their various sweet fillings and are traditionally devoured in copious amounts every Fat Tuesday. Surprisingly, even with heavier fillings such as custard, paczki maintain their light and airy texture, making them an irresistible indulgence.

Paczki  

2 ¼  tsp dry active yeast

1 cup whole milk, scalded and cooled

2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

½  tsp vanilla extract

½  tsp fine sea salt

3 – 3 ½  cups all-purpose flour

1 quart vegetable oil, for frying

Powdered sugar, for dusting 

Custard or Jam, for filling 

Custard Filling

1  box of Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 ½ cups cold water

In a small pot, combine the whole milk and butter. Set to medium low heat and cook until the butter is completely melted, stirring constantly. Once the butter is melted, set aside and let cool until it’s warm to the touch and not hot. 

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the lukewarm milk, let stand for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of the flour. Mix together and let stand for 20-30 minutes, until really bubbly.

In the meantime, beat the yolks in a small bowl until they are light and fluffy.

To the bubbly yeast mixture, add the beaten eggs, salt and vanilla extract. Slowly add more of the flour to the bowl, only adding enough flour to have a soft and moist dough. Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1 minute, adding a bit more flour if it is sticking to your hands or the work surface. Form the dough into a ball.

Grease a clean bowl with butter and add the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This dough can take a long time to rise and can take from 1 ½-2 hours to double.

Deflate dough and pat out onto a floured cutting board. With a rolling pin, gently roll into a 1/2-inch thick circle. Gently cut out circles with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Place your rounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with a clean tea towel and let rise until doubled 30 minutes-1 hour. 

Meanwhile, heat oil to 360°F. in a deep fryer or in a large, heavy bottom pot. Fry the paczki until golden on one side, flip and fry the other side.

Don't try to cook too many at a time, so you don't reduce the temperature of the oil by adding too many at once.

Fry until they are a deep golden color.

Remove the paczki to a cooling rack to let the oil drain off. Let stand until completely cooled.

Once cooled, using a sharp knife, poke a hole on the side. Use a pastry bag with a large plain tip to pipe the filling inside.

Dust your filled paczki with powdered sugar. 

Paczki are best enjoyed fresh. 

Custard Filling:

In a large bowl, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and 1 ½ cups water until well combined. Add the pudding mix and beat well, until the pudding starts to thicken.

Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set. It will be watery if you don't let it set up long enough.

*Notes:

After cutting out the paczki, you can re-roll the scraps and cut more pieces, though they are never quite as neat as the first cuts. I like to use the ugliest of these ones as "test" ones, to test the temperature of the oil. I fry one, let cool, then cut it open to make sure it is cooking all the way through. I can then adjust time/temperature, as needed from there.

If you're not a fan of custard, simply use your favorite brand of jam or check out my recipe for fresh raspberry jam.