Many years ago St Casimir’s Catholic Church Alter and Rosary Society had an annual bake sale on Palm Sunday. Along the way, to promote the Polish culture of the church, they decided that would make paczki to sell to its parishioners and the surrounding community. This began its tradition of making and selling paczki on Palm Sunday. In the 1980’s the organization and running of the event was handed over the Home and School Society, which in 1993 was transferred to Trinity Catholic School when the schools of St Casimir’s, St Patrick’s and Sacred Heart schools combined into a single school.
It was at this time where Dolina’s members Beverly and Bernard Piorek became volunteers, learning how to make this uniquely Polish treat. After a number of years as a volunteer, Bev led the schools efforts to find volunteers and organize the event. In 2001, the school ran short of volunteers to run this yearly fundraiser. Bev being a member of both organizations solicited Dolina’s participation. Since 2009, all groups within the Dolina family along with friends and family run this yearly event helping St. Casimir Church to keep its tradition alive.
Pączki are deep-fried pieces of dough shaped into flattened spheres and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing, glaze or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol (traditionally, Spiritus) is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough. The common opinion is that the ideal pączek is fluffy and at the same time a bit collapsed, with a bright stripe around – it is supposed to guarantee that the dough was fried in fresh oil.