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.
