Cookaholics Bulletin Board

no...we have it here too

I'm making my own today. Timer says 6 minutes to fry time!

they are all over Toronto too, have been for a week or so. my kids keep asking for them everytime we're at the store.
Jes, let us know how they turn out! Would love to try them. Wonder if you could fill them with nutella?

Not like a kolachky at all. Paczki are a filled doughnut made with a very rich dough. Nary a one in sight on Long Island, dang it!

JB,

I think I'd have to make my own. Sweetie did a search for them here, and no luck. The only Poles in the Bay Area are the ones used for dancing.

Thanks, I needed a good laugh this morning.

Okey-dokey.

So, I used the recipe from the Time/Life Foods of the World series -- that's A Quintet of Cuisines since Poland doesn't apparently rate its own book. The recipe is spot on, except that it really doesn't have enough filling. You end up eating 3/4 of the pazcek without any filling at all. While I've definitely had some paczki that had way too much filling, especially since too many times it is really crappy filling, it just needs to have some sweetness to make it taste right. The dough itself is very rich, but only mildly sweet.

Next year, I will used the same recipe, but fill it more -- either by adding filling through a pastry bag after frying or by making the rounds thinner and using two rounds, sandwich style, rather than gathering up the edges of the round drawstring-style as this recipe directed. I just need to work on fillings. I think that lemon curd, for instance would be vastly preferable to the fluorescent yellow canned lemon pudding that I typically find in lemon paczki. The fruit fillings tend to be too sweet and have that gloppy, starchy texture of canned pie filling, which I'm pretty sure is also the norm. This would explain why the really good paczki are so expensive. Sure the dough contains insane amounts of egg yolk, butter, and liquor, but it's the filling that would quickly eat up the ol' profit margin.

I will post the recipe here, but later, it's a lot of typing.

is this it? I tried to PM you but it's in my outbox....can't figure out how to get it out!

Is this it?
Polish Paczki (Carnival Jelly Doughnuts)

1 cup lukewarm milk (110 to 115F.)
2 packages active dry yeast
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
9 egg yolks
3 tablespoons rum
3 tablespoons vodka
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange peel
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon peel
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup raspberry, cherry or blackberry preserves
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Pour the milk into a small bowl and sprinkle it with the yeast and ½ teaspoon of the confectioners’ sugar. Let the mixture stand for 2 or 3 minutes, then stir to dissolve the yeast completely. Set the bowl aside in a warm, draft free place (such as an unlighted oven) for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture almost doubles in volume.

Sift the flour and the remaining confectioners’ sugar into a deep bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture, egg yolks, rum, vodka and vanilla and, with a large spoon, gradually stir the flour into the liquid ingredients. Continue to stir until well mixed, then add the orange and lemon peel and beat in the softened butter, a few tablespoons at a time. The dough should be just firm enough to be gathered into a medium soft ball.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough by pushing it down with the heels of your hands, pressing it forward and folding it back on itself. Repeat—pushing, pressing and folding—until the dough is smooth and elastic. Gather it into a ball, place it in a lightly buttered bowl, and dust the top with flour. Drape the bowl with a towel and set it aside in the draft free place for about 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in volume.

Punch the dough down with a single blow of your fist and, on a lightly floured surface, roll it out into a rough circle about ½ inch thick. With a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut the dough into 2 ½ inch rounds. Gather the scraps into a ball, roll it again to a thickness of ½ inch and cut out similar rounds of dough. You should have about 2 dozen rounds.

With your thumb, make a 1-inch round indentation in the center of each circle and fill it with about ½ teaspoon of the preserves. Lift up the edges of the dough around the filling and pinch the ends together to enclose the filling securely. Cover a baking sheet with a sheet of wax paper and place on it the doughnuts, seam side down and about 2 inches apart. Set aside in the draft free place again for about 1 hour, or until the doughnuts have puffed up and doubled in size.

Pour the oil into a deep fryer or large heavy saucepan to a depth of 3 inches and heat until it reaches a temperature of 325 F. on a deep frying thermometer. To deep fry the doughnuts, lower 3 of them into the hot oil with a slotted spoon and fry for 4 minutes. Turn the doughnuts over with the spoon and continue to deep fry uncovered for about 4 minutes longer, or until they are golden brown. Transfer them to drain on a platter lined with paper towels and fry the remaining doughnuts similarly.

Let the doughnuts cool to room temperature, then sprinkle them lightly with a little confectioners’ sugar and serve. Makes about 2 dozen doughnuts.

Time Life A Quintet of Cuisines

I got your PM. Yup that's it! Thanks again Jean!

Thanks, Jean. I'm in the Bay Area south of Fuzzy. Land of a different kind of Pole But I looove jelly doughnuts.
Nancy