Crisp Churros with Dark Chocolate Sauce
Inspired by techniques from America's Test Kitchen and King Arthur Baking.
Crisp, ridged churros piped from a simple cooked dough and fried golden, served with a glossy cinnamon-scented dark chocolate sauce.
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Method
- 1
Cook the dough. Put the water, butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in the large saucepan and bring to the boil. Take it off the heat, add all the flour in one go and stir vigorously until there are no dry patches. Boiling water gelatinises the starch, which gives churros their crisp shell and soft middle.
- 2
Beat in the eggs. Beat the dough on low for 1 min to let some heat escape, then add the eggs and beat on medium for about 1 min until smooth and glossy.
- 3
Pipe and chill. Spoon the warm dough into the piping bag and pipe 18 lengths of 15 cm onto the oiled paper, cutting each off with scissors. Chill them uncovered for 15-60 min; firm dough keeps its sharp ridges in the oil and is far easier to handle.
- 4
Make the sauce. Warm the 90 g sugar, milk and cinnamon in the medium pan over medium-low heat, whisking, for about 5 min until the sugar dissolves and small bubbles appear at the edge. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the cocoa until smooth. Off the heat, add the chopped chocolate, leave it for 3 min, then whisk in the butter and vanilla until glossy.
- 5
Heat the oil. Add oil to the heavy pan to a depth of about 4 cm, keeping it below half full, and heat to 190 °C.
- 6
Fry until crisp. Lower in 6 churros and fry for about 6 min, turning occasionally, with the oil kept between 180 and 190 °C. They are done when deep golden brown and crisp all over; drain them on the rack and fry the rest the same way.
- 7
Serve hot. Pile 3 churros onto each plate and serve straight away with the warm chocolate sauce for dipping.
Storage
Churros are best eaten within an hour of frying; re-crisp leftovers in a 200 °C oven for 5 min. The chocolate sauce keeps covered in the fridge for up to 1 week; rewarm gently until pourable.
Equipment
- large saucepan
- stand mixer with paddle (or wooden spoon)
- piping bag with 1.5 cm closed star nozzle
- baking tray lined with oiled baking paper
- scissors
- medium saucepan
- whisk
- large heavy pan or casserole, at least 24 cm wide
- deep-frying or probe thermometer
- tongs or spider
- wire rack over a tray lined with kitchen paper
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 586 kcal |
| Protein | 9.8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 65.3 g |
| of which sugars | 24.3 g |
| of which free sugars | 22.7 g |
| Fat | 32.6 g |
| of which saturates | 11.2 g |
| Fibre | 4.4 g |
| Salt | 0.6 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
1.7 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
