[RADIO] Churros, Churros, Churros with hot chocolate!
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It was Spain’s turn on the cook-off-before-kick-off on July 2nd and knowing how popular I am when I bring in sweets and treats to the BBC Three Counties Studios, I could not resist the temptation to make Churros. These deep fried doughnut tubes are a true taste of my childhood. They were the highlight of any holiday to Spain, either served simply with caster sugar for dipping or, a little more indulgently, with thick hot chocolate. They are actually remarkably easy to make – although I didn’t let Archie go anywhere near the deep fryer when I was cooking the batches. It would not be an understatement to say, though, that I have never seen him enjoy a treat quite as much as he enjoyed dipping the churros in the rich, creamy hot chocolate sauce…
Preparation time 5 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling
Cooking time 20-25 minutes
For the churros:
250g plain flour
Small pinch of salt
200ml water
50g unsalted butter
300-400ml vegetable oil for frying
2-3 tbsp caster sugar for dusting
For the hot chocolate:
150g chocolate, at least 70% cocoa, grated
300ml double cream
A small drop of vanilla extract
1 cinnamon stick
- To make the churros mix, melt the butter in a pan on a low heat. Add the water and bring it to the boil.
- Pour the hot liquid into a bowl containing the flour and stir really well using a wooden spoon to make a smooth and rather thick paste. Chill the paste for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Prepare the hot chocolate before you fry the churros by bringing the double cream, cinnamon stick and vanilla extract to the boil. Remove the cinnamon stick, then throw in the grated chocolate and mix until it melts. Set aside and cook the churros.
- Heat the oil to approximately 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4. Put the churros mix into a piping bag with a large star nozzle. When the oil is hot, pipe 8-10cm lengths of the mix directly into the pan. You don’t want to overcrowd the oil so cook 4 pieces at a time. Fry the churros until they are cooked through and golden. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Take the churros out of the pan using a slotted spoon and drain them on some kitchen paper. Roll them while they are still warm in sugar and cook the rest of the churros mix.
- Serve the churros still warm with the hot chocolate.
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I am VERY impressed with your Churros Nick. I just love them, probably because they are one of my earliest childhood memories of Spain. We used to drive down through France and the interior of Spain, stopping at villages and towns where they were no tourists. After dinner we would often walk through the village and find a place selling Churros. It was often nearly midnight (as they eat so late in Spain) and my sister and I always used to call them our midnight feast.
Things have moved on and now there is a stall in Portobello Rd market on Saturdays that makes them and they are totally delicious. But the girl who works on the stall told me that they are impossible to make properly at home because you can't get the oil hot enough in a domestic fryer. Well you've proved them wrong, so I'm going to have a go at recapturing my childhood midnight feast – once I get a deep fat fryer that is!
Nick I don't have a deep fat fryer or a thermometer can I do it at home in an ordinary pan with oil ????
Just made my mouth water looking at them
Wow – thanks for this Nick. I was thinking of churros the other day, and thinking how much the kids would love them. I remember eating them on school journey to Spain when I was 11.
Meanwhile, I have a challenge for you. Jess is a bit of a food-phobe. Joe and Thomas eat me out of house and home and will try most things, but Jess would happily subsist on a diet of sausages, fish fingers, pasta, bread, cheese, ham and fruit if I let her. Of course I don't, but she normally just picks at anything else, at best. Vegetables are pretty much a no-go, despite me being veggie. So if you and Archie can dream up a dish that Jess would eat happily, you'll be my bestest bestest friend. And if you can dream up something Oscar will actually eat (still exclusively breastfed at 15 months), then I'll start believing in miracles.
I too love Churros in Spain and as soon as morning sickness subsides I’m going to make them.
My 4 will love them!
I only discovered your website really recently but am already loving it! I first tasted churros con chocolate on a spanish exchange in barcelona when I was 15. I've always wanted to recreate them at home but been a bit scared of the copious quantities of boiling oil. Do you have an actual deep fat fryer or do you think I'd be ok to do it in a pan?!
I don't have a deep fat fryer so did mine in an old wok. Be vigilant though, of course. I think my wok was no more than 1/3 full. Any more than that and I think it may become a little dangerous! Worked perfectly doing it that way though…