When in Poland, one of the must try delicacies is pączki (pronounced “ponch-key”). What are they? Traditional Polish donuts that throw all your diet aspirations out the window. In other words, a pinchable-inducing food!
Cukiernia Pawłowicz in Warsaw is a small take away bakery with a very tempting window of treats, more specifically pączki. Once you see the fried goods in the window, it’s hard to continue walking by without claiming one of them as your own!
At this bakery, you’ll find a variety of filled donuts: vanilla custard, chocolate custard, vanilla and chocolate custard, chocolate with cherries, marmalade, and rose and almond jam (to name but a few). There are also mini donut balls (mini pączki), danish-type pastries, drożdżówki (like a cinnamon roll or filled bun), and a few larger cakes. All of them looked equally appetizing!
Cukiernia Pawłowicz is located a short 5 minute walk from Warsawa Centralna, the main train station in the city. And what’s more, for a mere 3.50 złoty, you can stuff your face with a fresh, soft, filled donut. To give you some perspective, 3.50 złoty is the equivalent of approximately 0.82€, £0.74, and $1.23 (Canadian). The prices are criminal! You’re basically stealing from them!
Above the ordering window, there is a list of treats and their prices, though be warned, it’s all in Polish and it’s not easily decipherable either. I asked the staff if they could tell me some of the flavours. In broken English they named enough for me to make a choice. Alternatively, you could play donut roulette by pointing to one and getting a surprise flavour. It’s a win-win really because you can’t go wrong with any of the treats!
On my first visit I got a chocolate and vanilla pączki. Oh man, it was so fresh that it was still warm. Here’s my taste review: the filling – delicious! The dough – delicious! The glaze – delicious! The fried sinfulness – also delicious! I could basically feel my hips getting fatter with every bite, but we’ll just ignore that little detail.
The traditional pączki flavour in Poland is rose jam and I’d recommend trying it to get a sense of the local taste. Rose jam tastes like pink Turkish delight, it’s sweet and it’s lightly floral. If you’re a fan of immersing yourself in local flavours, the rose jam donut will help you do just that!
I made a second visit to Cukiernia Pawłowicz en route to Warsawa Centralna to catch a train to Krakow. The bakery was on the way – how could I not? This time I tried the chocolate cherry donut, mainly because the child in me was drawn in by the colourful rainbow of sprinkles on top. I ate this on the train to the envy of my fellow passengers. They wished they had that donut in front of them! Ok… maybe they were staring because of my donut photo shoot, but I firmly believe that they were jealous of the donut.
In sum: indulge in a pączki or two from Cukiernia Pawłowicz when in Warsaw. I promise that your pinchables will be oh so grateful. And beware, these fried mofos are an INDULGENCE. But YOLO right?
Address: ul. Chmielna 13, 00-021 Warsaw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cukiernia-Paw%C5%82owicz-867589103284791/
Jess
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