It's time to make the donuts. Or, actually, the paczki. Papas Bakery, at 6055 S. Howell Ave., will sell 15,000 on Fat Tuesday. The bakery will be cooking the paczki most of the night to get the orders done.
It takes three hours for Papas Bakery to make a paczki. The whole process starts with fresh dough. They make it in 125-pound batches.
"This will make 800 donuts," said owner George Papas.
That is just a sliver of what Papas Bakery needs for their Fat Tuesday orders. They say people demand it.
"Paczki, give me a paczki," said Papas, talking about how his customers will come in the store.
The Polish Center alone orders 10,000. The demand has workers busy all day and late into the night.
When it comes to paczki flavors, there are lots of options at Papas, including the traditional plum and raspberry.
"We have added, as of late, creme-filled ones. That's something that's not quite as traditional but a lot of people enjoy that," said Papas.
But Papas says his signiture taste is a family recipe.
"You can't tell me your secret formula?" asked reporter Rebecca Klopf.
"Well I would rather not," said Papas.
He said instead people should just come in and taste it.
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