Cuisine: The Polish Palate
Course: Desserts
Diet: Vegetarian, High-Carb
Occasion: Fat Thursday, Dessert & Tea Time, Comfort Food, Carnival, Afternoon Snack, Culinary Heritage

Pączki Wiedeńskie (Viennese Choux Nests)

Deep-fried rings of rich choux pastry, glazed with icing sugar for a crisp, shattered exterior and a hollow, airy centre.
Prep time 15m
Cook time 45m
Rest time 15m
Total 1h 15m
Yield
10
Per serving:
357 kcal
35g Carbs
5g Protein
22g Fat
By Adam Dworak
Published: 11 September 2026

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Ingredients

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Kitchen Kit

  • Heavy-Based Saucepan
  • Stand Mixer
  • Piping Bag
  • Large Star Nozzle
  • Kitchen Thermometer
  • Tongs
  • Wire rack
  • Baking Parchment
  • Wooden Spoon
  • Silicone spatula
  • Kitchen Paper
  • Small bowl
  • Whisk

Method

  1. Set up your station. Cut a sheet of baking parchment into 10 individual 10x10cm squares. Lightly grease the surface of each square with a tiny dab of oil so the dough releases easily later.
  2. Measure exactly 250ml of the water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Chuck in the butter and the salt. Place over a medium-high heat and bring to a rolling boil, ensuring the butter is completely melted before the water bubbles.
  3. Tip the flour into the boiling liquid all at once. Immediately reduce the heat to low and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough will pull away from the sides of the pan and form a smooth, tight ball. Keep cooking and beating for 2 to 3 minutes until a thin film covers the bottom of the pan—this step is crucial to dry out the paste.
  4. Transfer the hot dough to a stand mixer bowl (or a large mixing bowl) and spread it up the sides slightly. Let it cool for 15 minutes. It must be warm, but if it is too hot, it will scramble the eggs.
  5. Crack the eggs into a small jug. With the mixer on medium speed (or using a wooden spoon and elbow grease), beat the eggs into the cooled dough one at a time. Do not add the next egg until the previous one is fully incorporated. The final choux should be glossy, smooth, and reluctantly drop from a spatula in a heavy 'V' shape.
  6. Transfer the choux paste into a piping bag fitted with a large open star nozzle (at least 15mm, like a 1M tip). Pipe a neat ring (about 7cm across) onto each prepared square of parchment paper.
  7. Pour the vegetable oil into a wide, heavy pot or Dutch oven. Heat it steadily to 170°C. Do not rush this heat-up; if the oil is too cool, the nests will drink the fat and turn greasy. If it's too hot, they will burn before the inside cooks.
  8. Carefully lower 3 to 4 parchment squares directly into the hot oil, dough side up. Wait 10 to 15 seconds. Grab the edge of the paper with your metal tongs and peel it away from the dough—it should slip off easily. Remove the paper from the pot.
  9. Fry the nests for 4 to 5 minutes on the first side until deeply golden and puffed, then flip and fry for another 4 minutes. Drain the cooked rings on a wire rack set over kitchen paper.
  10. Make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk the icing sugar with the remaining 30ml of water until thick, smooth, and pourable. Dip the tops of the warm nests directly into the glaze and place them back on the wire rack to set.
Chef's Note & Storage
Best eaten on the day they are made. Store at room temperature in a loose paper bag or breathable container for up to 1 day. Do not refrigerate, or the moisture will cause the glaze to weep and the pastry to turn soggy.
00:00

Gniazdka: The Polish Choux Doughnut

Walk into a traditional Polish *cukiernia* on Fat Thursday, and amidst the mountains of jam-filled yeast doughnuts, you will spot the elegant, ridged rings known as *Pączki Wiedeńskie* (Viennese Doughnuts) or *Gniazdka* (Little Nests). Unlike their yeasty cousins, these rely entirely on the magic of *ciasto parzone*—choux pastry. When deep-fried, the high moisture content of the choux creates steam that violently puffs the dough, resulting in a beautifully crisp, deeply grooved exterior that shatters when you bite into it, giving way to a soft, hollow, custard-like centre.

CHEF'S SECRET: Do not try to lift the raw piped dough into the oil with a spatula—it will warp and collapse. Pipe the rings onto individual squares of lightly oiled baking parchment. Drop the dough and paper directly into the hot oil together. Within 15 seconds, the parchment will release itself. Simply fish it out with tongs for a perfectly shaped nest.

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The Art of Ciasto Parzone

The success of these doughnuts lies entirely in the pan-cooking stage of the dough. By boiling the water and butter, and beating the flour in over the heat, you are gelatinising the starches. You must cook this paste until a dry film coats the bottom of your saucepan—this step evaporates excess moisture and allows the flour to absorb the eggs properly later. Get this right, and the choux will hold its sharp, piped ridges perfectly in the bubbling oil.

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