I have dined in some incredible restaurants across the world but if I had to choose between fine dining and good street food I would choose street food every time. There’s something magical about delicious morsels being produced from inconspicuous stalls in the middle of urban bustle. Paul and I went to Barcelona on our honeymoon and ate fresh churros from a tiny cart near Park Güell. It was basically perfect and in that moment it was a toss up as to whether I’d spend the rest of my life with Paul or the elderly churro vendor.
Big churros require a fair bit of oil and a decent sized pan which isn’t always practical. These mini churros only need 1/2 litre of veg oil and a small saucepan or skillet. They are quick to make and are so incredibly festive to eat. In the winter when the kids get a bit of cabin fever we put up the tent in the spare room and I make a batch of churros to eat as we pretend to camp. It’s pretty wonderful.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 30-40 mini churros
150g plain flour
250ml water
20g caster sugar
1 tbsp veg oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Sauce
70g dark chocolate chips
50ml double cream
For the Coating
60g caster sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
You’ll need a piping bag, medium sized star nozzle and scissors for this recipe.
- Put a milk pan on a medium high heat then add the water, 20g caster sugar, 1 tbsp veg oil, salt and vanilla extract. Give everything a whisk then keep an eye on it because as soon as it starts to boil (probably only a minute or two) take the pan off the hob (move it to a cool hob) and add the flour.
- Use a spoon to stir the flour in until you have a thick dough. Don’t worry if you can still see little bits of flour in the batter.
- Fill a pastry bag with the dough and attach a medium sized star nozzle. The dough is so thick it will keep the shape of the ridges made by the star nozzle as it cooks making those beautiful ridges so characteristic of churros.
- Put your oven on to a low temperature (50-100°C).
- Put 500ml of veg oil into a clean milk pan or small, deep-sided skillet and turn the heat up to medium high to high. The key to getting an even colour on your churros is to get the heat just right so that the dough doesn’t burn. I start with a high heat, drop a bit of dough in, see if it browns too quickly or not then adjust the heat accordingly.
- Pipe a 6-10cm length of dough into the oil then use scissors to snip the dough from the piping bag. The churros should cook in about 15-20 seconds to a beautiful golden colour. Once you have this timing right you’ll know your oil is the right temperature.
- Do not overcrowd the pan because it will drop the temperature of the oil and make your churros soggy rather than crisp. I tend to add just two or three at a time to the oil.
- Once the churros are golden use tongs to move them to a wad of paper towel to drain. Move the drained churros to a baking dish in the pre-heated oven to keep warm while you make the rest of the churros. It takes me about 15 minutes to cook and drain the whole batch.
- Once all the batter has been fried you can prepare the sugar coating and dip. Pour the 60g of sugar and cinnamon into a wide bowl and whisk to mix.
- Put the chocolate chips and cream into a microwave safe bowl then melt in the microwave on a low heat until you can stir the chocolate and cream into a sauce.
- Take the warm churros and toss small batches in the sugar until all the churros are coated and serve with the warm, dark chocolate sauce.
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