MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Fat Tuesday is coming up on March 4, and bakeries throughout the Midwest are in full swing to make large amounts of Pączkis. Huron Mountain Bakery is taking many orders for boxes of the jelly filled donuts through Sunday, March 2.
“We’ve been getting a lot of orders,” said Assistant General Manager of Huron Mountain Bakery, Rachel Freeman. “I had staff call yesterday saying ‘hey, we need more order forms,’ so the first thing I did this morning was print out more so we could get more orders.”
The process of making the bulk amounts of Pączkis takes long shifts from a hard working crew, covering all stages the donuts go through.
“We start making Pączkis on Monday at three in the morning, and we’ll make them for probably the next 24 hours between making all the dough, the frying, sugaring, filling, and then of course boxing all of the orders that are coming in,” said Rachel.
This year, Huron Mountain Bakery is expecting to make around 15 to 16 thousand Pączkis for Fat Tuesday.
Fat Tuesday is celebrated before the start of Lent, traditionally where people would use up all of their perishables and fats, before fasting for 40 days. For this reason, Pączkis are loaded with more ingredients.
“The Pączkis have extra filling, extra eggs, extra sugar, and extra butter going into them,” said Rachel. This all adds to the density and richness of the donuts.
Orders for the donuts are on a first come, first serve basis, and can be placed over the phone or on location, either in Ishpeming or Marquette.
