New businesses join paczki frenzy in McHenry County

Everyone at Deli 4 You in Algonquin – no matter their job – is prepping paczki in the lead-up to Lent.

Deli 4 You expects to sell more than 30,000 of the Polish treats over the next six days, general manager Paulina Karczewska said. Another McHenry County go-to for the pastry, Country Donuts in Crystal Lake expects to sell even more, owner Jake Clemment said.

McHenry County residents also have two new places to get their paczki fix this year: Casting Whimsy in Woodstock and UpRising Bakery in Lake in the Hills are baking versions for the first time this year, the owners of both cafes said.

UpRising will offer vegan and gluten-free variations, owner Corinna Bendel-Sac said.

“Polish people do Thursday, Americans do Fat Tuesday, so it’s a whole week party,” Karczewska said. “It’s a very big event. We have our own bakers hustling, making donuts. It’s fun. Everyone here gets involved.”

This week at Deli 4 You – a European grocery store with four locations in the Chicago area – is the fourth-biggest event of the year for them, after Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving, Karczewska said. One local organization preordered 800 paczki this year.

Country Donuts typically has lines in out the door for paczki come Fat Tuesday, Clemment said.

“Things get crazy,” Clemment said. “We’re making paczki 24 hours a day; bakers are working 12-hour shifts. It’s nonstop. We’re putting them out as fast as we can, but we still can’t meet the entire demand. It gets hectic, but there’s a buzz in the air. We love it.”

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Nick Finia of McHenry licks his fingers after selecting a paczki Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, as he shops at Deli 4 You, 1501 S. Randall Road in Algonquin. Area bakeries are prepping for the lead-up to Lent when paczki are traditionally eaten. Deli 4 You will make and sell around 30,000 paczki this week. (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

Paczki were “sort of new” to Anna Lentz of West Dundee, who regularly visits Deli 4 You for their doughnuts and was aware of paczki from a Polish friend in college.

“I like learning about the tradition,” Lentz said. “I buy them for my kids. I buy whatever looks good. They like all of them.”

Another customer, Cheryl Vucsko of Carpentersville, said even though her heritage is Slovenian, she remembers her grandmother making a variety of plum-filled paczki when she was younger, adding that Deli 4 You’s paczki were “awesome,” especially with a cup of coffee.

Casting Whimsy is able to offer paczki this year after moving to a new location last March; previously, owner Randy Aitken said, they were “baking in a baby toaster oven.”

Both Aitken, who runs Casting Whimsy with his wife, Paula, and Bendel-Sac of UpRising Bakery said customers have been asking about paczki all year.

“Last year, we were too new and didn’t have the capacity,” Bendel-Sac said. “But so many people came in asking us about them, I felt like a dork for turning them away. I felt this year for sure we are going to do it, so the demand hasn’t surprised me at all. I’m grateful for it.”

As of Wednesday night, Aitken said he’d prepared several batches to make sure he got his “flow down” and ensure they can do recipes at scale.

Aitken described the paczki dough as “super slack” and “difficult to work with,” a mix between bread and cake, but said he was really excited for his baking team to try something new. The bakery will be filling the pastry with traditional flavors such as spiced plum and raspberry, he said.

Preparing vegan and gluten-free options took some time to finesse the recipes, Bendel-Sac said, adding she has made more traditional paczki at home.

“They’re not your average paczki,” Bendel-Sac said. “We had to play around on getting the recipe just right, making sure they are not gummy and weird. We want them nice and flaky and airy like they’re supposed to be.”

Compared with the longer-running paczki posts, Casting Whimsy and UpRising’s preorders are comparatively modest. Each bakery is prepping several dozen paczki daily for walk-ins, while UpRising has “only” about 280 preorders for Feb. 21 and 28, Bendel-Sac said.

“We’re going to be making limited quantities,” Aitken said. “When they are gone, they are gone.”