Paczki Day fills Morris Bakery

MORRIS – Fat Tuesday lived up to its name with about 6 million calories of buttercream frosting, whipped cream, fresh fruit, cake, cookie pieces and gooey glazes nestled between two slices of an egg dough batter doughnuts passing through the doors of Morris Bakery.

These treats, called paczkis, are of Polish descent and derived from a Catholic tradition to use up all of the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit before fasting practices began Ash Wednesday. The Polish originally did this on Fat Thursday before Ash Wednesday, but also observe the American tradition of Fat Tuesday, according to Polish.org.

In 1999, Morris Bakery owner Bob Elleson said he was driving home from work when he heard a 30-second blurb on WGN radio about a Polish bakery in Chicago that made paczkis for Fat Tuesday, and it was the shop’s busiest day of the year.

“I went home and told my wife, ‘We gotta make them next year,’ ” Elleson said.

The first year, the bakery made 20 dozen paczkis and sold out. The following years, it doubled its production as the demand increased. Last year, 2016, it tapped out at 10,000 paczkis and made the same number this year because that was what the bakery would hold. Bob said Fat Tuesday sales beat out any other time of year, even Christmas.

“Each batch of dough produces 1,000 paczki, and we make 80 to 90 dozen. We are keeping the number the same as last year, but may be able to do a few more. I can always put on another batch and make another 1,000 paczki,” Elleson said.

A month before Fat Tuesday, Feb. 28, he bought supplies and cleaned buckets. Four days before, Lauren Ralston and Carly Gordon, daughters of owners Bob and Darcy Elleson, began to create some fillings. The day before, the bakery was abuzz with dough being mixed and cut, paczki fried and sliced, fresh fruit cut and fillings blended.

Ralston said that each year, she and her mother, Darcy, compete to see who can come up with the best new flavor of paczki.

This year, Ralston won with her German chocolate cake paczki, which features a filling of chocolate buttercream with German chocolate cake crumbles, iced with a coconut pecan frosting, then drizzled with chocolate ganache.

Bob said he takes this process seriously and even drove all the way to Florida last year to pick up fresh strawberries for the fillings. This year, however, he shopped around and has partnered with Peter Rubi produce store and picked up 200 pounds of fresh strawberries right off the truck Sunday.

“The best thing about this year is me not having to drive to Florida for strawberries,” Bob said.

With anticipation for lines out the door upon opening at 5 a.m., Morris Bakery put a second register by the door with prepared boxes of paczki ready for payment and carry-out. More than 200 dozen were ordered in advance this year, and the rest will be sold individually or in boxes to customers until all are sold.