9 Reviews of Authentic Polish Paczki

From: Kimberly Annette

On Feb 19, 2007

This is a rich, indulgent paczki in the true Carnival sense. After reading comment #2, I made a note to turn up the heat - I've had trouble getting yeast doughs to rise in winter because we keep our thermostat on 65F. I had no problems with this one after turning it up to 70F for a couple hours. Another cause of non-rising dough is bad yeast - age and a few other things can kill it, so it won't be activated by warm liquid + sugar (which is what causes it to rise). It's best to store yeast in the fridge, and make sure it's the first ingredient you grab when you get ready to prepare dough - set it on the counter to let it warm a bit as you set up everything else. After everything is at hand, warm up the milk. By then, the yeast won't be shocked by a sudden change in temps. Also, try using whole milk instead of low- or non-fat. Lactose-free milk will NOT work, because it lacks milk sugar (lactose) which the yeast needs to feed on in order to multiply. Don't worry if you're lactose intolerant - the yeast will consume the lactose in regular whole milk, so it won't affect your tummy. Happy Paczki Day!

From: Chef #297236

On Feb 27, 2006

I have been cooking and baking for over 40yrs. and have never had trouble with a recipe as I did with this one. Tried 2 times, thinking I did something wrong the first time, but got even a worse result the second time, the dough does not rise!!! Not only am I out 2 doz. eggs and 8 cups of flour, I am out time and money. I think this one needs to go back to the drawing board. Oh yes, I do make crullers and kolacky without failure.

From: Chef #454106

On Feb 21, 2007

My mom lost my buscia's recipe, and I have been searching for one that was close. This is it! Using just the egg yolks gives it the traditional taste. Thanks so much for sharing!

From: Chef #751047

On Feb 3, 2008

This is an unnecessarily complex recipe. That's why some people have trouble with it. After making them, my wife and I have three general reactions. The first, and perhaps most important, is that the recipe for the dough is not all that important ... your favorite brioche type dough will do the job. Just make sure it is well kneaded dough to give the final product some structure and the crumb some stringiness. These are too cakey. Secondly, don't put the filling in before hand ... it is easier, and more authentic to do them as full rounds, let them cool (glaze while hot) and fill afterward with a pastry bag. Letting them cool allows the cooked dough to stabilize ... if you put the filling in while the dough is hot, it will collapse and get gummy around the filling. Not too much filling either ... authentic paczki have a wee dollip of filling (2t) just to add a bit of contrasting flavor. Finally, 3, the dough per paczki should be about 2 oz in weight. Large paczki may not cook through. Hope this helps.

From: Chef #719807

On Jan 7, 2008

This recipe is very difficult, but if they turn out they are great. I can remember my grandmother spending all day making packi's. Her's had a slight variation though. Instead of puting filling betweek layers of doe, she would add raisins to the doe and then form the doe into balls. I followed this recipe with the exception of using whole eggs instead of yolks. They take longer to rise than stated, but if you wait long enough they should. Making them certainly made me appreciate the hours my grandmother spent in the kitchen!!

From: Chef #519961

On Jun 18, 2007

This was a very good tasting recipe, but it was very difficult to make. Like some of the people before me, I had difficulty with getting the dough to rise. I would suggest for anyone else having this problem to cover the container that it's in with the plastic wrap and then put it in the oven on the lowest heat setting (usually called warm). This should solve that problem. I also think that if you are having trouble with the rising and you run out of time before it has doubled its bulk twice, you should roll the dough to about 1/2 inches thick. Otherwise a very good recipe and you should all try it out! -T-Marc

From: Sue (Chef #752968)

On Feb 5, 2008

I was so proud of my first attempt at these!! They turned out very good (I used the 6 eggs) and I'm excited to have them today, Fat Tuesday! I will have to watch the heat the next time because some of them didn't get done all the way through. I just fried them in my dutch oven on the stove. Fantastic!

From: Vicky Gunkel

On Dec 5, 2007

I did make this and didn't encounter any problems with the dough raising. The tast, however, was very eggy. It didn't go over with my family of 9 as much as I hoped for this labor intensive Polish doughnut. However, there a load of people who love Paczki and our dislike of the overly eggy product shouldn't deter people from trying this recipe.

From: Chef #1456435

On Nov 21, 2009

So, just a tip, but you might want to warm up the rum a little bit for about 15 minutes or so near-boiling just enough to drop the alcohol content. otherwise, you'll kill the yeast a lot faster than a low thermostat.