Brookline's Party Cake Shop ready for a busy Fat Tuesday selling paczki
It's going to be a busy Fat Tuesday at Party Cake Shop in Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood where people will be buying dozens of paczki to celebrate Mardi Gras.
The bakery located along Brookline Boulevard makes nearly a dozen different flavors of paczki that are available, along with king cakes, designed with a Mardi Gras theme.
The bakery has a new, orange cream flavored paczki this year, among the 4,500 paczki they've made and expect to go through on Tuesday. Paczki are a Polish dessert, similar to a donut, that are a very popular, Fat Tuesday tradition.
Workers at Party Cake Shop say they worked all day Monday to prepare for an extremely busy Tuesday.
Zach Zebrowski, co-owner of the shop, says it's one of their busiest days of the year.
"We're ready to go," Zebrowski said. "A very, very busy day."
Zebrowski says Fat Tuesday is a big draw for his shop and others throughout the area.
"We're known for our paczki," Zebrowski said. "It's the best in the area."
Ben Ferris, head baker for Party Cake Shop, said making the paczki is a process.
"It's wonderful," Ferris said. "It's part of the paczki neighborhood. It's paczki time!"
Ferris said he's blessed to work for Zebrowski and very happy for that, and when asked what his favorite flavor of paczki is, he said he likes the prune variety.
"I was born and raised in Brookline and they're the best around. I've had them at other places, and this is the best," customer Tom Pisano said.
This Fat Tuesday turnout supports this locally owned business, as its biggest day of sales most every year.
"This is our busiest day of the year, we expect to see two or three times our usual customer amount that comes through the doors," said co-owner Michelle Zebrowski.
"It's a great, family-owned little business here, and I believe they have the best paczki's in town," said customer David Lowther.
After this marathon of a day, the Party Cake Shop will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.
