It's time for Paczki! Polish jelly filled doughnut recipe

What Mardi Gras. In the Polish tradition of Fat Tuesday, we enjoy eating Paczki or Polish jelly filled doughnuts. The Lenten tradition of fasting called for using up the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit that you had in your home. My Aunt Sophie and grandmother, Babcia, would make these delicious filled doughnuts. Certainly a treat you waited for once a year! This recipe comes from my brothers collection of family recipes. I hope you enjoy it!

1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 whole egg plus 3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Optional: 1/4 cup white raisins

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and egg yolks. Add the yeast mixture, vanilla, orange rind and salt. Gradually add flour, and optional raisins, blend until well mixed.Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover, and set aside in warm area until the dough has doubled in size. On floured board roll out until about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles with a glass or biscuit cutter. Place a spoonful of raspberry jam at the center of each circle, fold in half, pinching closed sealing in the jam. Roll into ball shape. Fry in hot oil (350 degrees) or shortening until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels, to absorb excess oil. When cool, dust lightly with powdered sugar.  Note: for a lighter texture, the filled and formed paczki can be set aside to rise again slightly before frying.

You can also fill the paczki after frying with a cake decorating tipped bag. Try lemon curd, custard, or even prune filling for a change! Whatever filling you choose enjoy these treats today!

My families favorite recipes

Smacznego-Bon Appetit! One of the things I wanted to share with you is my love of cooking. Good, sometimes old-fashioned cooking like your mom and grandma night have made if you were very lucky! I grew up in a Polish family of great cooks. My Babcia (grandmother), various aunts and my mother were wonderful cooks that passed down a wealth of knowledge. We learned cooking by doing-not by following recipes in a cookbook-but treasured recipes handed down generation to generation. My brother Adam put together a collection of recipes intending to share them with the world but alas!-the cookbook was never published. I hope to share some of them with you and many of my own favorite recipes. Give them a try-maybe some of them will become your family favorites too! Golabki-Stuffed Cabbage Filling: 1 onion, chopped fine 4 Tablespoons butter ( 1/2 stick) 1 c white rice, cooked 2 lbs ground beef-I like ground chuck 2 eggs 1 tsp garlic powder Salt and pepper 1 whole cabbage For sauce: 1 can cream of tomato soup 1 can diced tomatoes Saute onions in butter until transparent. Combine with cooked rice, meat, eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Put whole head of cabbage into large pot of boiling water. The trick here is to cut away the leaves of the cabbage from the core. As the cabbage leaves become transparent, run a knife along the center cabbage core to remove a few of the scalded cabbage leaves . Place the cabbage leaves in a colander to cool and drain. Repeat this until you get to the leaves that will be to small to form rolls. Discard ( or eat!) the core.

Take a small amount of the filling-and place it at the base of the cabbage leaf-the amount you need will vary with the size of the cabbage leaf. Put the completed cabbage rolls into a baking dish-I like to lay down a few of my leftover or torn leaves to line the baking dish to keep my golabki from browning too much. Pour the sauce mix over the cabbage rolls, cover and bake in a 350 degree oven about 1 and 1/2 hours. I love these served with homeade mashed potatoes!