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 Long a staple treat preceding the Catholic fasting period of Lent,
the pastries, a no-hole, denser and richer version of the donut,
have exploded in popularity in recent years far beyond Chicago's
large Polish community to a growing number of high-end, specialty
donut shops, bakers and food experts say.
These gourmet bakeries, with names like "Glazed and Infused," are
experimenting with new paczki varieties - using key lime pie, jelly
made with blood oranges, or white chocolate in place of more
traditional plum and rose jelly fillings.
"It's really big this year," said Rebecca Skoch, a food and beverage
consultant who organizes the annual "Donut Fest." "Chicago has a
great mix of bakers that do classic donuts and newer, avant garde
places that aren't afraid to experiment."
Skoch said Chicago is a leader in the gourmet donut trend
nationwide, ahead of New York and Portland, so it makes sense that
new shops want to take on a local favorite.
 Paczki (pronounced "ponchkey" for several and "ponchek" for one),
also popular in other Midwest cities like Detroit and Cleveland,
differ from North American bismarcks in having an especially rich
dough, with eggs, butter, alcohol and sometimes milk. The dense deep-fried pastries, which do not flatten as they are
eaten, date back to the Middle Ages, when people tried to use up
ingredients that are avoided during Lent.
PRE-LENT INDULGENCE
With Lent starting on Wednesday, Feb. 10, this year, pastry shops
are expecting big business leading up to it.
"People cut back on Wednesday, so Tuesday's a fun day," said Mark
Tormey, co-owner of Do-Rite Donuts, which is offering Nutella-filled
and key lime pie paczki with a sugary graham cracker topping.
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Firecakes Donuts, in the wealthy Lincoln Park and River North
neighborhoods, expanded its paczki line this February with chocolate
custard and Meyer lemon, along with raspberry and blood orange
jelly.
"We try to keep the integrity but make it memorable, interesting,"
said Firecakes owner Jonathan Fox.
Though the newer specialty donut shops have been expanding their
production and varieties, the big Chicago paczki sellers continue to
be European-style bakeries, like Delightful Pastries, which has made
them year-round for 18 years.
Delightful's owner Dobra Bielinski expects to sell 50,000 for the
season, and demand has soared with greater awareness of "Paczki Day"
celebrated on the Thursday or Tuesday before Lent.
Delightful's varieties include "drunken paczki," like vodka with
custard and whiskey with chocolate cream.
In a back room at Delightful's northwest side shop last Wednesday,
six workers were busy mixing, kneading and rolling the creamy dough
into balls.
"It's nothing but paczki back there," said counter worker Maggie
Giza. "It's insane."
(Editing by Ben Klayman and Bernadette Baum)
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