PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — They are a sweet treat prepared ahead of this week’s observance of Ash Wednesday.
Kathleen Lochel, owner of Lochel’s Bakery in Hatboro, Montgomery County, said fastnachts have their roots in Pennsylvania German tradition.
“Years ago what they did was they would take all of their additional ingredients in the kitchen and put it all together to form a donut and fry it before they gave up sweets for Lent,” she said.
Lochel said the first fastnachts were made up on what’s called “Fat Tuesday,” the day before the start of Lent, and they consisted of lard, sugar, fat and butter.
Lochel said many makers of fastnachts today use a potato-based recipe – hers use homemade mashed potatoes – and they prepare them with a variety of coatings.
“Plain, cinnamon sugar, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, powdered sugar cream, chocolate and vanilla iced, and glazed,” she explained. “The people that get the plain typically freeze them throughout the year because they want them more than just Fat Tuesday.”
Lochel said it’s the busiest time of the year for the bakery – busier than Christmas Eve.
But it will be different this year because of the impact of the pandemic on some of the bakery’s biggest customers.
“We’re not providing like tons of dozens for the companies that would generally would order them,” she explained. “But what we’re seeing this year is a lot of people want them shipped overnight.
“So I’m hoping that makes up for what we sold last year. Last year, we sold about 15,000.”
Because of the pandemic, Lochel said this year she’s selling fastnachts Monday and Tuesday to try to spread out the crowds coming to the bakery.