MISHAWAKA, Ind.-- Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, and bakeries across Michiana are preparing their paczki! It's part of a pre-Lenten tradition said to have started back in the middle-ages.
An old tradition for Fat Tuesday will be new for Mishawaka's Great Harvest Bakery, as this will actually be their first year making paczki. As you'll see, they've had no shortage in interest in the traditional polish treat.
'Twas the day before Fat Tuesday, and all through Great Harvest, paczki were being filled with sweet jam or custard. The bakery has only been around for about a year and a half, and while they were in business last year at this time, in 2026, Great Harvest's owner says they'll be swinging for the fences with a new item on their Mardi Gras menu.
"Last year, it was a new store, so it was just a little bit harder because we don't have fryers here, which is the traditional way of doing paczkis, but we found a really good fluffy dough recipe that can be baked, so we said let's take a chance on it. We did a test bake of it a month ago, and our very first day, we made 30 of them, and they were gone within an hour," said Tony Floyd, owner of Great Harvest.
Floyd and his staff got to work and haven't stopped. He says part of the reason they took this leap of faith was the initial success of the first bake, but also paczki ingredients are more affordable this year.
"We're making 500 of these over the next two days, and we have about 300 of them designated for pre-orders and then after that, it's first come first serve so if you do want a paczki, you'll have to get in here before everyone else does," said Floyd.
Floyd tells ABC57 if he gets any more orders in before the bakery closes Monday, they plan to make even more supply for Tuesday. Customers are embracing the paczki palooza.
"They're local, and so we like to sponsor local businesses. We know Tony and his family, and I'm all about good ingredients, for my kids especially, and so we knew it was delicious from previous buys," said Allesha Thomas.
Floyd tells ABC57 paczki aren't the only thing selling through the roof this year. Great Harvest is slated to sell three times as many king cakes compared to 2025.