How to pronounce paczki and paczek: Your guide
Happy Fat Tuesday, Michigan! Here’s your guide to using and pronouncing paczki — and paczek — correctly as you enjoy the delicious pastry.
Paczki Day, a longtime tradition celebrated in metro Detroit, is coming up this week.
It’s time to get ready for the day of indulgence, which arrives just before the start of the Christian season of Lent — a time of reflection, giving and fasting leading up to Easter.
The day is also known Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras.
Around metro Detroit, grocery stores and bakeries (especially local Polish bakeries) are ready for the paczki action.
Bakers are preparing tens of thousands of traditional or specialty paczki dusted with powdered sugar or covered in a sweet glaze and oozing with jelly, custard or cream fillings.
As always, prices vary place by place, by flavor and by specialty paczki.
At Hamtramck’s New Palace Bakery, which calls itself “Paczki Headquarters” on its website, prices are up $1 a dozen. They range $32.95 to $42.95 per dozen.
“We try to keep prices low so everyone can enjoy the tradition,” said Suzy Ognanovich of the family-owned establishment. “We make them fresh daily and will be pretty much baking around the clock.”
Ognanovich said raspberry and custard paczki are the most popular and prune is the most traditional. Customers also enjoy the bakery’s specialty and fancy paczki.
This year, the bakery’s new flavor is “Cook-zki.” It’s a cookie butter buttercream paczki sprinkled with cookie crumbs.
Villa Bakery in Garden City started making a variety of specialty paczki three week ago. They include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and bumpy cake varieties. The bumpy cake is a paczki sliced open and filled with vanilla buttercream with more buttercream piped on top. It’s finished with melted chocolate fudge.
Villa Bakery’s specialty paczki are available only until Saturday. Because of the time it takes to make them, they won’t be available on Monday or Fat Tuesday, said Candy VanLue of the family-owned bakery.
Starting Monday, Villa Bakery will offer a variety of fruit-filled paczki plus its popular cannoli cream paczki.
Vanlue said the business is paying more for the paczki shells it sources, but prices are the same as last year. Per paczki, it’s $3.75 for cannoli cream, $3 for custard-filled or chocolate mousse, and $2 for fruit-filled paczki.Promenade Artisan Foods in Detroit’s Fisher Building and downtown Trenton has a brioche paczki.
Owner Chelsie Brymer described it as pastry made with brioche dough and fillings of different flavors. Promenade, where everything is scratch-made, will offer the brioche paczki at both locations. One variety is filled with plum apple butter and topped with a citrus glaze, while another features Biscoff cookie butter custard. They’re $4.50 each.
One metro Detroit restaurant is opting not to make paczki this year.
At the Three Brothers restaurant in Plymouth, which offers traditional Polish food, paczki are off the menu. In a Facebook post, the restaurant cited “rising cost of eggs and staffing constraints.”
Here’s a sampling of places where you will find paczki. Many local grocery chains and independent grocery stores also have paczki. And if you’re in search of paczki early, many of the bakeries listed below open early with special hours.
American Coney Island, Detroit
Coney Paczki will be offered on Fat Tuesday starting at 9 a.m. and available until sold out. They’re made with American Coney Island’s famous hot dogs and topped with chili, mustard and onions — all nestled into glazed but unfilled paczki that are split like hot dog buns.
American Polish Cultural Center, Troy
The center has traditional paczki flavors for walk-in customers. Online orders are also being taken and can be picked up anytime through Tuesday. On Tuesday, the center opens at 6 a.m. and paczki will be available until sold out.
American Polish Century Club, Sterling Heights
Paczki will be on sale in the banquet center on Monday and Tuesday. A dozen paczki are $38.99. On Tuesday from noon to 4 p.m., the clubs will hold its Paczki Day party with Polish music, Polish street food, a full bar and paczki for sale. Tickets are $5 in advance or $7 at the door.
33204 Maple Lane, Sterling Heights586-264-7990Avon Donuts, Pontiac
Paczki will be available 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and starting at 5 a.m. until they’re sold out. This year, Avon will have a cheesecake flavor among its varieties that include raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, apple, custard and cream.
45324 Woodward Ave., Pontiac248-333-2121Bartz Bakery, Dearborn
Traditional fruit flavors and a chocolate paczki are available, according to its website. Other flavors include cannoli, buttercream, cream cheese and prune.
Bozek’s Market
The family-owned stores in Hamtramck and Sterling Heights offer a variety of paczki made from a recipe brought over from Poland, according to a previous Free Press story.
3317 Caniff, Hamtramck42354 Van Dyke, Sterling HeightsCantoro Italian Market, Northville
Cannoli, custard, or tiramisu-filled paczki are available, plus a variety of fruit-filled flavors.
Detroit Donut, Hamtramck
Doors open at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, and a dozen-plus varieties will be offered.
9101 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck313-873-9000Donutville USA, Dearborn
Family-owned and operated for nearly 60 years Donutville U.S.A. offers more than a half dozen variety of paczki. At Donutville U.S.A., they use only vegetable oil and no lard. Donutville U.S.A. opened on July 4 in 1966 and is now run by second and third generation family members. You can check out Donutville U.S.A.’s paczki making in a videol on its website.
Dutch Girl Donuts, Detroit
Normally closed on Monday, Dutch Girl Donuts will be open. You can place advance orders for a minimum of three dozen. No regular doughnuts will be sold on Monday.
Elliott’s Bakery and Coffee Shop, Trenton
The establishment, which is celebrating more than 90 years in downtown Trenton, has apple, custard, lemon and raspberry paczki this year, according to its Facebook page.
GM Paris Bakery
Described as a Polish Mediterranean fusion the bakery and café offer paczki plus specializes in coffee and coffee drinks, savory pastries, Polish breads and Greek desserts. They will open at 5 a.m. on Fat Tuesday and is also open Sunday and Monday for paczki.
28418 Joy Road, Livonia734-425-2060Heritage Bakery, Livonia
Fruit-filled, mousse-filled and specialty paczki such as banana Oreo split are available now until Tuesday. They’ll also be available every Friday during March.
Irena’s Café and Bistro, Sterling Heights
Irena’s, within the Srodek’s plaza on Mound Road, offers handmade paczki in a variety of flavors at the bistro and next door at Srodek’s Campau Quality Sausage Co.
Iversen’s Bakery, Dearborn
In business for more than 100 years, this Dearborn bakery will have a variety of paczki. Its specialty paczki, according to its website, fuses a Middle Eastern kunaffa and Italian cannoli. The paczki, according to its website, has a creamy filling and is topped with a dusting of powdered sugar, sprinkled with curnchy kunaffa noodles and drizzled with chocolate.
New Palace Bakery, Hamtramck
Seven different box options with a variety of paczki are offered. The bakery’s 2025 flavor is Cook-zki, a cookie butter buttercream paczki.
Polish Market, Troy
The market will open at 6 a.m. Tuesday for paczki sales, according to a recorded phone message.
2938 E. Maple Road, Troy.Promenade Artisan Foods, Detroit
Both locations will have a limited quantity on Tuesday. The Detroit location is inside the Fisher Building.
Srodek’s Campau Qaulity Sausage Co., Hamtramck
A variety of flavors including plum, strawberry, raspberry, rose hip, custard, and lemon will be available.
9601 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck313-871-8080srodek.comTaj Al-Yemen Restaurant, Hamtramck
Open 6 a.m. with at least a dozen varieties of fruit-filled and cream-filled paczki.
11300 Conant St., Hamtramck313-368-9214Tony Cannoli Sweets & Eats, Southgate and Woodhaven
Five flavors, including cannoli and Boston cream, will be offered at the Woodhaven location. Doors open at 7 a.m. in Woodhaven for paczki sales.
Cannoli and Bavarian cream paczki will be available at the Southgate location.
Inside Trentwood Market at 11055 Allen RoadTringali’s Bakery
A baker’s dozen of paczki flavors are available including its cannoli cream, a top seller made from a four decades old cannoli cream recipe.
Villa Bakery, Garden City
Specialty paczki, including Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and bumpy cake, are available only until Saturday. This family-owned bakery will have its top-selling cannoli cream and custard-filled paczki plus a variety of fruit-filled and chocolate mousse-filled paczki on Monday and Fat Tuesday.
Yellow Light Donuts, Detroit
Both Yellow Light Donuts locations will offer paczki sourced from Almont Baking Co. and dipped in Yellow Light’s signature house-made glazes. A half-dozen mix of paczki varieties sells for $22. On Tuesday, paczki will be available 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
14447 E. Jefferson in DetroitInside the Michigan Central Station in Corktown
This story has been updated to include new information.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.