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If you didn’t know, paczki (pronounced “POONCH-key”) are deep-fried pieces of dough shaped into flattened spheres and filled with sweet fillings. Traditionally, they are eaten on Fat Thursday in Poland, but in many communities, including Metro Detroit, they are more commonly associated with Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. This year, Fat Tuesday falls on February 13th. The practice of making paczki was originally a way to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs, and fruit in the house, which were forbidden during the Lenten fasting period.
Erica Pietrzyk of Pietrzyk Pierogi encapsulates this sentiment beautifully: “Paczki is a food that is created by using all the good stuff in your pantry before the purge. The sweet things, the fatty things, the sugar.” It’s this ethos that guides many of the area’s bakers in their creation of these seasonal delicacies.
PIETRZYK PIEROGI
1429 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit
Known for its handcrafted approach, Pietrzyk Pierogi honors the paczki tradition with its small-batch ethos. Erica Pietrzyk emphasizes high-quality ingredients, like preserves over jellies, and freshly rolling and frying this treat, ensuring a taste that’s both authentic and superior. For Fat Tuesday, Pietrzyk Pierogi will have 100 dozen paczki available, with flavors including raspberry, blueberry, strawberry jalapeño, vanilla custard, and lemon curd. Additionally, Pietrzyk Pierogi is hosting two events at Urbanrest Brewing Company that you won’t want to miss. On the 4th, there will be a paczki brunch with pierogi, polish plates, paczki waffles, and of course, its raspberry, strawberry jalapeño, and vanilla custard varieties. Then on the 8th, there will be a Fat Thursday dinner featuring paczki, pierogi, and piwo (beer). These features are first come first serve, so make sure you arrive early to grab a plate or two. If you’re looking for more traditional Polish foods, including favorites from Pietrzyk Pierogi, check out our list here.
PARIS BAKERY
28418 Joy Road, Livonia
A cornerstone in the Metro Detroit area, Paris Bakery in Livonia is renowned for its wide variety of paczki flavors. They take pride in their time-honored methods, ensuring that each one is a blend of traditional craftsmanship and culinary excellence. You don’t necessarily have to wait for Fat Tuesday to pick up some paczki as they are offered every Friday and will be available every day starting February 1st. For the dedicated Paczki fans, Paris Bakery offers fun shirts available in-store that’ll show off your love of the treat.
TRINGALI’S BAKERY
29100 Schoenherr Road, Warren
Celebrating the Italian take on paczki, Tringali’s Bakery brings a unique twist to the Polish treat. They are known for offering cannoli cream-filled paczki (sign me up!) and for coffee lovers, there is a cappuccino cream option available too that people wait all year for. Additionally, Tringali’s offers paczki in blueberry, apple, lemon, raspberry, custard, buttercream, strawberry, and chocolate custard flavors for more traditional options.
NEW PALACE BAKERY
9833 Joseph Campau Avenue, Hamtramck
A visit to New Palace Bakery is a journey into the heart of Paczki culture in Metro Detroit. Known as ‘Paczki Headquarters’ for their vast selection, including classic and innovative fillings, they have become a go-to destination for enthusiasts. At New Palace Bakery, they offer 7 different box options for easy selection. Four boxes are for a half dozen paczki, in raspberry, strawberry, custard, and prune varieties. The other 3 boxes are for a dozen paczki, in either traditional or specialty flavors. The traditional box #1 has raspberry, strawberry, and blueberry, and box #2 has custard, lemon, and apple. As for the specialty box, you’ll get to try out honey cream, blueberry blitz, orange creamski, peanut butter and jelly, strawberry cheesecake, buttercream, and triple chocolate varieties.
BARTZ BAKERY
1532 North Telegraph Road, Dearborn
Bartz Bakery offers a delightful range of paczki in their shop full of old-world charm. Here, the staff focuses on preserving time-honored traditions for baking while infusing the treats with a modern flair. You can currently place a pre-order for Paczki Day over the phone (with a dozen minimum) or walk in while supplies last on the 13th. As for flavors, Bartz Bakery offers custard, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, lemon, apple, cherry, and chocolate as regular options. As for premium flavors, choose from cannoli, buttercream, cream cheese, and prune.
