I honor both my Italian and Polish sides with these homemade pączki. Made from a dough rich with egg yolks and butter, these pączki are actually quite light when fried. Usually filled with vanilla custard, jelly or fruit (such as prunes), I give these pączki an Italian twist.
I took my Italian great-grandmother's recipe for custard and made two different fillings. Chocolate Espresso Custard pays homage to sanguinaccio dolce, a chocolate & pig's blood pudding served in Italy during Carnevale...don't worry; no pig's blood here! I also make Toasted Coconut Custard not because it is particularly Italian but because my Italian grandma makes a delicious coconut cream pie that I may have been known to fight one of my cousins over! And finally, I simply roll the pączki while still warm in Cinnamon & Sugar, which is reminiscent of the fritelle or fried dough that was served on Fat Tuesday in the little town in northern Italy where I lived.
Pączki
½ cup milk
1 ¼ oz packet (2-1/4 tsp) of active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (between 105 – 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
6 TBS unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
4 egg yolks, beaten
Pinch of salt
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (plus more flour for kneading)
High heat oil for frying (2 quarts for a saucepan; 1 gallon for a deep fryer or large stockpot)
Your choice of filling or topping:
Toasted Coconut Custard (recipe below)
Chocolate Espresso Custard (recipe below)
Jelly
Cinnamon & Sugar (1 TBS ground cinnamon to ½ cup granulated sugar).
Powdered sugar for garnish (optional)
Scald the milk. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and heat on medium-low just until small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan (a scald is just under a simmer). Remove from the heat and set aside.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside.
Add the butter to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a hand mixer or the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed while gradually adding in the sugar. Beat the mixture for 5 minutes or until it is fluffy and the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Slowly stir in the yeast and the water. The mixture will look curdled but don’t worry. Add the beaten eggs and pinch of salt and stir well. The mixture will still look curdled.
Beat in one cup of flour. At this point, switch out your beaters or paddle for a dough hook. Add half of the scalded milk and beat for 30 seconds or until incorporated. Beat in the second cup of flour. Add the rest of the milk. Add the third cup of flour and beat until incorporated.
The dough will be sticky. Flour a pastry board, large cutting board or clean counter. Dump the dough onto the board and knead for 5 minutes, adding flour if necessary, until the dough comes together and is shiny and elastic.
Beautiful rich egg dough!
Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with cling film. Store in a warm place and allow the dough to rise for 1 -2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Knead the dough and roll out to a ½-inch thickness. Cut the dough with a floured glass or biscuit cutter.
Place the cut dough onto a greased sheet pan. Knead the scraps of dough together and roll out again and repeat the process. Do this only once; otherwise, the dough can become overworked and dried out (you can, however, fry any remaining dough scraps and dip them in sugar). Cover the cut dough with plastic wrap and allow it to rise for about 30 minutes.
Heat the oil:
If you’re using a pot, heat the oil on low to medium-low until the temperature reaches 365 degrees. If you’re using a deep fryer, follow the instructions of your make and model.
Fry the pączki:
Depending on the size of your pot or deep fryer, add 2 – 6 pączki at a time making sure not to crowd them. Fry the pączki until they’re golden brown on one side and puffed.
Using tongs, carefully flip them over and fry the other side. It should take 30 – 45 seconds per side.
Using a slotted spoon, small sieve or fry basket, remove the pączki from the oil and place on paper towels to drain.
Once the pączki are cooled, roll them in the Cinnamon & Sugar or fill them with custard or jelly:
To fill the pączki, put the custard or jelly into a pastry bag fitted with a Bismarck or long piping tip. Insert the tip into one side of the pączki, squeezing the custard or jelly in as you pull the tip out.
Or, simply slice the pączki in half and add a dollop of custard or jelly.
If you like, sift powdered sugar over the top.
Helpful Hints
1) Pączki are best if eaten within 24 – 48 hours.
2) Pączki filled with custard should be stored covered in the refrigerator. Jelly-filled or plain pączki can be stored in a tightly covered paper bag on the counter for up to 48 hours. However you store your pączki, don’t sift powdered sugar over them until you’re ready to eat; otherwise, the sugar will melt into the pączki.
3) You can freeze pączki and defrost them overnight in the refrigerator.
4) You can freeze the pączki dough itself and defrost it overnight in the refrigerator. Knead it, roll it out, cut the dough, allow it to rise and follow the rest of the recipe as written.
Toasted Coconut Custard
This is an old-fashioned custard that uses flour as its base. To remove the raw flour taste, I prefer to cook this on low. By the way, both custards make for great pie filling; just double the amounts and pour into a pie shell.
2 egg yolks
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp coconut oil
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup toasted unsweetened coconut (reserve 1 TBS for garnish)
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, scald the coconut milk. With a whisk, add the coconut milk to the dry ingredients in the large saucepan until incorporated. Turn the heat on low and cook the milk mixture for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick, whisking the entire time. Remove the milk mixture from the heat.
Slowly whisk ¼ cup of the warm milk mixture into the beaten eggs. You want to increase the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them. Whisk the tempered eggs back into the milk mixture. Turn the heat back on to low and cook for one minute. Remove from the heat.
The custard will be very thick. Pour the custard through a sieve (you will need to use a wooden spoon or spatula to push it all through) into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract, coconut oil, and the toasted coconut. Cover the custard with plastic wrap (push the plastic directly onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming). Place the custard in the refrigerator until cold (a few hours) and use to fill the pączki.
Chocolate Espresso Custard
2 egg yolks
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder (I prefer extra dark)
Pinch of espresso
1 cup milk
½ TBS unsalted butter
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, sift together the flour, salt, sugar, cocoa powder, and espresso. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, scald the milk. With a whisk, add the milk to the dry ingredients in the large saucepan until incorporated. Turn the heat on low and cook the milk mixture for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick, whisking the entire time. Remove the milk mixture from the heat.
Slowly whisk ¼ cup of the warm milk mixture into the beaten eggs. You want to increase the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them. Whisk the tempered eggs back into the milk mixture. Turn the heat back on to low and cook for one minute. Remove from the heat.
The custard will be very thick. Pour the custard through a sieve (you will need to use a wooden spoon or spatula to push it all through) into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract and butter. Cover the custard with plastic wrap (push the plastic directly onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming). Place the custard in the refrigerator until cold (a few hours) and use to fill the pączki.