Production of popular paczki pastries continues at Morning Fresh Bakeries in Adrian

Brad Heineman, The Daily Telegram
·2 min read
Morning Fresh Bakeries employee Carrie Six of Sand Creek fills glazed paczki with crème filling Monday afternoon in preparation for Fat Tuesday, also known as Paczki Day, which is today.
Morning Fresh Bakeries employee Carrie Six of Sand Creek fills glazed paczki with crème filling Monday afternoon in preparation for Fat Tuesday, also known as Paczki Day, which is today.

ADRIAN — One of the sweetest and most tempting of holidays is back again: Fat Tuesday.

In America, Fat Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday as a pre-Lenten holiday tradition. In some cultures, Fat Tuesday is recognized the Thursday before Ash Wednesday because it marks the start of the final week before Lent. In places with many Polish immigrants and their families, the name Paczki Day has taken hold.

Since Lent is a time of sacrifice, paczki were created using a household’s supplies of things that Polish-American families wouldn’t be able to eat during the Lenten fasting, www.nationaltoday.com said. These food items included lard, sugar and eggs.

Paczki, similar to doughnuts, are a sugary pastry that combines glazed or powdered doughs with a fruit, crème or custard filling.

Some finished paczki, glazed with crème filling, at Morning Fresh Bakeries in Adrian are ready to be enjoyed in celebration of Fat Tuesday, also known as Paczki Day, which is today.
Some finished paczki, glazed with crème filling, at Morning Fresh Bakeries in Adrian are ready to be enjoyed in celebration of Fat Tuesday, also known as Paczki Day, which is today.

The annual tradition of indulging in the pastry — or multiple pastries — is also one of the biggest sales days of the year for bakeries in Lenawee County, including Morning Fresh Bakeries in Adrian. Owner Allen Heldt said Morning Fresh aims to produce more than 1,800 dozen paczki through today.

Paczki production at Morning Fresh officially started Sunday, continued Monday and will wrap up today. The busiest day of production was Monday, Heldt said, when 950 dozen paczki were produced.

Paczki are the only items served at Morning Fresh the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

Morning Fresh Bakeries employee Hannah Kopke of Adrian adds a good amount of powdered sugar to paczki Monday afternoon in preparation for Fat Tuesday, also known as Paczki Day, which is today.
Morning Fresh Bakeries employee Hannah Kopke of Adrian adds a good amount of powdered sugar to paczki Monday afternoon in preparation for Fat Tuesday, also known as Paczki Day, which is today.

“We’ve increased our total numbers produced by 70 dozen compared to last year,” Heldt said in an email. “We’ve also added five more wholesale accounts for paczki compared to last year.”

People can stop into any of Morning Fresh Bakeries’ locations in Adrian to order their paczki or they can visit a number of different retailers through the county that offer Morning Fresh products. Paczki prices for this year are $22.99 per dozen, Heldt said.

Paczki flavors offered this year at Morning Fresh are lemon, blueberry, custard, crème, chocolate crème, raspberry, strawberry and apple.

The production and popularity of paczki at Morning Fresh is a longstanding tradition in the Adrian and Lenawee County community, Heldt said.

Daren Gallant of Adrian, production manger at Morning Fresh Bakeries, tends to the fryer while working on making several dozen paczki Monday afternoon.
Daren Gallant of Adrian, production manger at Morning Fresh Bakeries, tends to the fryer while working on making several dozen paczki Monday afternoon.

“All hands are on deck,” he said. “We even have the Biggies Pizza team members help with the production of paczki. Daren Gallant (production manager) and his team of 10 team members work around the clock to get these three days of production complete.

“These three days are all about the staff,” Heldt continued. ”From production to front counter staff, it really takes a team effort to get it done.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Production of paczki pastries continues at Morning Fresh Bakeries