Fastnacht Day Meets Fat Tuesday
Fastnacht Day or Fat Tuesday is the last chance for sweet pastry before Lent begins.
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Emmaus Bakery owner Rob Erdossy is tired. He started making fastnachts last night at 8 p.m. and was selling them by 7 a.m. this morning.
Erdossy will get some sleep this afternoon and then return to the bakery tonight to start all over again. In the process, he’ll make about 2,000 dozen, that’s 24,000, fastnachts for Fat Tuesday, better known as Fastnacht Day to the Pennsylvania Dutch.
A fastnacht is a doughnut made from potatoes. Traditionally, fastnachts were made as a way to empty the cupboard of lard, sugar and butter before Lent, when Christian families give up sweets and fats.
For some, Fastnacht Day, or Fat Tuesday, is the last day to indulge in tasty pastry.
Tomorrow, of course, is officially Fastnacht Day, and starting at 5 a.m., every bit of shelf space will be stacked with freshly made fastnacts in the bakery at 415 Chestnut St. The shop is open until 6 p.m.
Erdossy with his wife make five types of fastnachts: traditional or plain, powdered, sugared, cinnamon-sugared and glazed.
A dozen costs $12, $6.50 for a ½ dozen or, if you are thinking of swimsuit weather, $1.25 for just one.
Of course, even after Fat Tuesday, the Emmaus Bakery will still continue to produce its pastries. For St. Patrick’s Day, Erdossy said, he plans to make Irish soda bread, and when Easter rolls around, hot cross buns.
Donna Hosfeld
9:57 am on Tuesday, March 8, 2011
When my Mom made them years ago, I watched her let them raise on a cotton tablecloth-covered ironing board, since we didn't have enough counter space! The smell is easily remembered, even so many years later. Then, she would fry them, paintakingly, in a fairly small pot...it took forever. Stored in a "Charlie Chips" can, we'd wait patiently for "the day"to arrive...they were fabulous. All kinds of goofy shapes, rectangles, triangles, some round ones...and the darker, leathery ones were the best! I always shook mine in a brown paper bag filled with powdered sugar, eating them with a big glass of milk. My dad sliced his in half and spread them with molasses. I've had many over the years, some coming close to hers, but none being "exactly" the same. Great memories!