A Polish bakery in the West of Leeds had a record day for sales on Thursday, as hundreds of its doughnuts flew off the shelves in the name of ‘Fat Thursday’.
Karpaty Polish bakery in Armley saw local residents flock to its doors as they stocked up on sugary treats like rose petal and plum jam-filled doughnuts ahead of Lent.
Fat Thursday or, as it is known in Poland, Tłusty Czwartek, is a day when people typically treat themselves to their favourite pastries and other sweet treats ahead of the religious period of abstention.
The bakery is hugely popular with local residents, as was shown yesterday when it sold over 1,000 of its doughnuts in just four hours.
Sandra Draszanowska, 22, who works at the bakery told the Yorkshire Evening Post yesterday that the bakery had been open since 7am and they had had queues spilling out of the doors and down the street all morning.
She told the paper that she couldn’t believe how busy the shop had been and that it was her first shift working on Fat Thursday, adding “Both Polish and English customers have been in, everyone loves it”.
As well as their rose petal and plum jam doughnuts, another popular treat enjoyed at Karpaty on Fat Thursday were angel wings or Polish Chrusciki.
A key element of the Fat Thursday tradition, these treats are also a popular sweet enjoyed all over Poland all year long.
Made from wheat flour, eggs, margarine, sugar, salt, sour cream, alcohol, vinegar, these traditional sweet crisp pastries are made from dough that has been shaped into thin twisted ribbons, deep-fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
People travelled from far and wide to get their treats, with one customer saying he had come all the way from Bramley to pick up doughnuts for his family.
Called Stan, he said he had lived in the UK for 13 years but still loved to celebrate Fat Thursday.
Speaking to the YEP, he said: “All the family love different flavours.”
“I always come to Karpaty as their doughnuts are absolutely huge.
“I live in Bramley but make the trip.
“It is definitely worth it.”
