Pączki

What makes it pączki

• A dough rich with egg yolk and butter.
• Rose-petal jam is the classic filling; plum and custard are common.
• Fried, then glazed, sugared, or topped with candied orange peel.

Where it comes from

Tłusty Czwartek, Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent, is the day of pączki: bakeries have queues out of the door and people eat them by the boxful, using up the eggs, butter and sugar before the fast.

The dough is heavy with yolks and often takes a splash of spirit, said to keep it from soaking up the frying fat. The pale ring around the middle is the mark of a good one.