16/02/2024
Churros
One of my favourite Spanish dessert is Churros. The reason behind is the simplicity of the pastry and the fact that it's yummilocious. The first time I ever tasted a Churro was back in 2016 and had fallen head over heels since then.
There are two stories of how churros came into existence. Some say that the Portuguese came across a similar dessert in China called 'Yu char kway' and they brought it back with them. The Spanish learned it from their neighbours and put their own twist to them by passing the dough through a star shaped tip.
The other story and for me the more authentically believable one is that the Spanish Shepherds who lived in the mountains had no access to any bakery and so they made these sweet treats by frying them in a pan over fire. Lending credibility to this version of history is the fact that there exists a breed of sheep called the "Navajo-Churro", which are descended from the "Churra" sheep of the lberian Peninsula; the horns of these sheep look similar to the fried pastry.
Whether Spanish shepherds, Portuguese sailors or the Chinese get the credit for inventing the churro, it was the conquistadors who introduced them to Latin America. Since then, the modern
day churro has undergone various
reincarnations including guava-filled churros in Cuba, dulce de leche-filled churros in Mexico and a cheese-filled version in Uruguay.
The recipe
Ingredients :
CINNAMON SUGAR COATING
• ▢1/4 cup caster / superfine sugar
• ▢2 tsp ground cinnamon
CHURROS
• ▢1 cup flour, plain / all purpose (Note 1)
• ▢1 tsp baking powder or an egg
• ▢Pinch of salt
• ▢1 tbsp butter or vegetable, canola or olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil)
• ▢1 cup boiling water
• ▢2 cups+ vegetable or canola oil , for frying
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
• ▢1/2 cup dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips (Note 2)
• ▢1/2 cup thickened / heavy cream (heavy cream)
How to Make Churros
For the coating whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish, set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot or deep saute pan over medium-high heat to 360 degrees. Prepare the dough while oil is heating.
Add water, butter, sugar and salt to a large saucepan, bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add flour (eggless people add baking powder along with flour) reduce heat to medium-low and cook and stir constantly with a rubber spatula until mixture comes together and is smooth (a few lumps in it are fine).
Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl, let cool 5 minutes.
Add vanilla and egg (eggless people omit egg) to flour mixture then blend immediately with an electric mixer.
Blend until mixture comes together and is smooth (it will separate at first but keep mixing it will come together).
Transfer to a 16-inch piping bag fitted with a rounded star tip (no bigger than 1/2-inch).
Carefully pipe mixture into preheated oil, into about 6-inch lengths, cut end with clean scissors.
Let fry about 2 minutes per side until golden brown.
Transfer to paper towels to dry briefly, about 15 seconds (don’t wait too long or they’ll be dry and the sugar won’t stick as well).
Then transfer to cinnamon sugar mixture and roll to coat.
Repeat process with remaining dough (frying no more than 5 at once, separate with metal tongs if they stick a little).
Let cool for a few minutes then serve warm.
