Happy Punchkey Day!!

[RedAngie]

I bought enough for everyone. Enjoy!!

Or if you prefer something else:

 

[gwynne]

I picked up some paczki yesterday. Yummy filled pillows of deliciousness.

 

[aprilchem]

I'll buy ours after I get off work today. Unfortunately I live in Va and we can only get the cherry or cream filled here. Wishing for some fig Pączki today!

 

[Micca]

Never heard of it but it looks like pastry so I'm willing to "take one for the team." I do see King Cake at the grocery store, it looks awful to me. Do people actually eat it, or just dig around for the "non edible baby?"

 

[gwynne]

Never heard of it but it looks like pastry so I'm willing to "take one for the team." I do see King Cake at the grocery store, it looks awful to me. Do people actually eat it, or just dig around for the "non edible baby?"

About paczki-They are a Polish Fat Tuesday tradition. They are like a jelly doughnut, but paczki dough usually has more eggs and butter.
Lots of fillings, the old school traditional ones are prune and fig. Most now are fruit flavored (like cherry, apple or blueberry) or variations on creme.

I've wondered the same things you do about King Cake. I've never had it, just seen pictures of it.

 

[RedAngie]

It's very difficult to find fig or prune paczki anymore. Even the Polish bakery/deli just has crème or lemon or raspberry.

I'm not sure of the purpose of King cake. I tried it once about 20 years ago, and it was dry and tasteless. We threw most of it out. I THINK the baby figurine is supposed to be baked inside, not sticking out like in the supermarket version.

I bought a box Bavarian crème paczki over the weekend, and some lemon yesterday. I might stop by after work today to see if I can get some raspberry ones.

 

[BrianL]

I've never had paczki, but I so want to! I love King Cake. I think it's lame how they can't hide the baby in there anymore. Even with the huge warning on the box, the baby's just sitting right on top. But, you know, idiots and lawsuits.

I did just have a Mardi-Gras decorated doughnut thanks to a kind coworker.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

King cakes from grocery stores are almost universally . They taste like a week-old cinnamon roll.

King cakes from a good bakery, on the other hand, are amazing . ESPECIALLY the specialty ones - praline pecan, turtle, Zulu, etc.

Chock full of calories, unfortunately.

 

[BrianL]

King cakes from grocery stores are almost universally . They taste like a week-old cinnamon roll.
King cakes from a good bakery, on the other hand, are amazing . ESPECIALLY the specialty ones - praline pecan, turtle, Zulu, etc.
Chock full of calories, unfortunately.

Yeah. Grocery store ones aren't usually too good. I had one in NOLA once though, and that was great!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I find it weird that some places use king cakes before Lent instead of at Epiphany.

As a resident of PA, and barely German (like 9.375%), I eat fastnachts. Although I'm also 1/4 Polish, so maybe I should eat Pączki instead.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

"Non-edible baby". That's better than the alternative.

 

[lynxstch]

Save me a lemon one please, and thanks for getting enough for all of the DIS to enjoy!

 

[Colleen27]

I made my annual trek to the Polish bakery this morning for a dozen. Eight in boring available-anywhere flavors like strawberry and lemon for the kids and rosehip and plum for DH & I. Fortunately we now have a little Polish place in my town so I didn't have to do the usual drive to Hamtramck and spend hours in line thing, although even at our little place the line was out the door at 8am today.

I've never actually had a king cake. I suppose I could probably find a bakery somewhere in the area that does them if I wanted, but I'm all about the paczki.

 

[scrhsa]

It's very difficult to find fig or prune paczki anymore. Even the Polish bakery/deli just has crème or lemon or raspberry.

I'm not sure of the purpose of King cake. I tried it once about 20 years ago, and it was dry and tasteless. We threw most of it out. I THINK the baby figurine is supposed to be baked inside, not sticking out like in the supermarket version.

I bought a box Bavarian crème paczki over the weekend, and some lemon yesterday. I might stop by after work today to see if I can get some raspberry ones.

The grocery store King Cakes are yuk...I've had the good luck to have one when I was in Louisiana....outstanding!!!

Finding prune paczki sounds about like trying to find prune kolache...unless you make them yourself

 

[NotUrsula]

I find it weird that some places use king cakes before Lent instead of at Epiphany.
.

What makes you think we don't have them at Epiphany? Epiphany is the first day of the Carnival season, and that's when we start eating them --- and we keep eating them right up through Mardi Gras.
It's a whole lot more fun to eat them for a least a month, rather than just on one day.

PS: BAKING the baby inside the King Cake was done away with decades ago when plastic babies became the norm (they used to be silver; I still have one.), because the plastic is apt to melt. With the plastic ones, you push them into the baked cake from the bottom before you ice it. Not hiding it in at all is a total wimp-out.

For a really simple quick King Cake that is quite tasty, you can use Holly Clegg's Crescent Roll shortcut to make one in minutes. http://www.hollyclegg.com/Recipe.cfm?id=806 (Personally, I don't color the icing; I use plain white glaze and colored sugar sprinkled over it while it's still warm. Prettier than colored icing.)

 

[Stitchfans]

That is one thing I miss about living in Dupage IL compared to Saline County IL In southern IL it is so different. For example, the Paczkis. Here they are almost non existent and when you do find some they have frosting on them instead of powdered sugar or sugar and hardly any filling. I am so used to loads of filling!