a donutPączki

A Polish filled donut: a flattened ball of rich dough — eggs, fat, sugar, yeast, sometimes milk — deep fried, filled with jam or cream, and finished in powdered sugar, icing, glaze or dried orange zest.

Pączki have been known in Poland since at least the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz wrote that under Augustus III, French cooks in Poland improved the dough until pączki came out lighter and springier.

Two details separate them from a jelly donut. A small amount of grain alcohol — traditionally rectified spirit — goes into the dough; as it evaporates it keeps the oil from soaking in. And the bright pale stripe around the middle, from floating in fresh fat, is read as evidence the oil had not been used and reused.

Traditional fillings are powidła, stewed plum jam, and wild rose petal jam. American shops fill them with everything else as well.

Rich yeast dough with a spoonful of spirit, proofed, flattened, fried in fresh oil so the belt shows, filled from the side, sugared.

In Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee and Windsor the Tuesday before Lent runs on them. Lines start before dawn and bakeries sell by the dozen until the dough runs out.