It’s paczki-palooza for Naperville bakeries taking orders ahead of Fat Tuesday.
What is a Paczki?
A paczki is a Polish pastry that looks similar to a doughnut. However, it uses leftover sugar, butter, and flour and is traditionally made this time of year to indulge the taste buds one last time before the beginning of Lent, when many Christians fast or give up sweets.
“Then we fill them with different custards, jellies, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries and just enjoy that extra rich dough that we only have once a year,” said DeEtta’s Bakery owner Morgan Tyschper.
DeEtta’s to dish out thousands
Inside DeEtta’s Bakery are empty boxes piled high in anticipation of making upwards of 14,000 paczkis – all in a single day. While they’re taking pre-orders now through Sunday, they’re waiting until midnight Tuesday to make them, to keep them as fresh as possible.
Owner Morgan Tyschper says it was her Polish mother-in-law who first told her about the pastry. “I just thought to myself, I need to bring this to everybody because it’s delicious,” she said.
They have nine different flavors, available for pre-order or to buy on Fat Tuesday.
Tyschper’s top picks?
“My personal favorites are the cheese, the custard and the prune,” she said.
Fiene’s fresh take on Fat Tuesday
Meanwhile at Fiene’s Bakery, they’re making paczkis starting today through Tuesday, offering ten different flavors, including a new “flavor of the year”, key lime, voted on by the community. In addition, the bakery is preparing the popular Mardi Gras dessert, king cakes.
“Our king cake is a brioche dough that we fill with a lovely cinnamon sugar filling, and you put this vanilla frosting and then the festive sprinkles on top,” said owner Meghan Fiene.
The king cake traditionally has a baby figurine hidden inside, symbolizing the biblical three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus, and is said to bring good fortune to whoever finds it. Fiene’s will be stocking extras (after pre-orders) for those who stop in, with beads and baby on the side.
“It’s just that one time of year, a little bit of that family tradition that people love to come in and get one,” said Fiene.
Back-to-back holidays bring weekend sugar rush
The two Naperville bakeries are even busier than usual, as they’re preparing for not only Fat Tuesday but Valentine’s Day as well. The two holidays just so happen to be three days apart this year.
“Just the combination of the two, it’s going to be an extremely busy weekend, and we’re pretty excited for that. We’re ready for that challenge,” said Fiene.
“It just adds to the excitement, adds to the fun,” said Tyschper.
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