Churros

 

Try a fresh spin on doughnuts by piping them Spanish-style and serving them with a thick and indulgent homemade dark chocolate sauce. In Spain, you would be served this delicacy for both breakfast and afternoon tea with your coffee or tea.

Ingredients

3.5 tablespoons butter melted

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

4.25 cups vegetable oil

For the sauce

2 cups dark chocolate

not too bitter, broken into chunks

½ cup double cream

½ cup whole milk

3 tbsp golden syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup caster sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Boil the kettle, then measure 1.25 cups boiling water into a jug and add the melted butter and vanilla extract. Sift the flour and baking powder into a big mixing bowl with a big pinch of salt. Make a well in the center, then pour in the contents of the jug and very quickly beat into the flour with a wooden spoon until lump-free. Rest for 10-15 mins while you make the sauce.

Put all the sauce ingredients into a pan and gently melt together, stirring occasionally until you have a smooth shiny sauce. Keep warm on a low heat.

Fill a large deep saucepan one-third full of oil. Cooking with hot oil can be dangerous – before you start, read up on how to deep-fry safely to avoid accidents in the kitchen. Heat until a cube of bread browns in 45 seconds to 1 min. Cover a tray with kitchen paper and mix the caster sugar and cinnamon together.

Fit a star nozzle to a piping bag – 1.5-2cm wide is a good size. Fill with the rested dough, then pipe 2-3 strips directly into the pan, snipping off each dough strip with a pair of kitchen scissors. Fry until golden brown and crisp. Be very careful here – if air bubbles form in the churros they can explode, especially if the oil overheats or you use old flour. Cooking with hot oil can be dangerous – before you start, read up on how to deep-fry safely to avoid accidents in the kitchen. Keep children out of the kitchen and protect yourself by wearing long sleeves and eye protection and keeping your face away from the pan.

Once the churros are crisp and golden brown, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on the kitchen paper-lined tray. Carry on cooking the rest of the dough in batches, sprinkling the cooked churros with some cinnamon sugar as you go. When you’ve cooked all the churros, toss with any remaining cinnamon sugar and serve with the chocolate sauce, for dipping.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 6 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, and opinion or history pieces each week.