Churros con tsokolate

This is a favourite of mum’s way back in the day – when I can sneak up some quiet time and just indulge in the churros and perfect chocolate accompaniment at Dulcinea (surprisingly I can't find the website for this restaurant but here is a blog review about the place) in Manila.  It was a favourite place for mum to hang out for just coffee or lunch with friends and sometimes just to sit there with a book or a pen and notebook, killing time before heading on to visiting clients as part of my job as a sales representative.  Ate B also loves this Dulcinea regular, and I have never ever tried this at home because of the sheer lack of faith. As with all things we procrastinate to try, this was way too simple, it should be a regular afternoon tea at any day of the week, at any time of the year.

Churro/s is Spanish in origin and is also referred to as a Spanish doughnut.  It is usually eaten dipped in a hot chocolate sauce. 

Thanks to Joy the Baker for posting this on her site, which is adapted from the Diner's Journal  NY Times.

To make the churros:

1/2 cup or 120g unsalted butter (Use this site for converting US to Metric)

1 cup water

1 tbsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

1 cup flour

3 eggs

First make your cinnamon sugar coating:  Whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon in a bowl.  Transfer into a shallow dish and set aside.

Then make the churro/s dough .  Mix together in a saucepan and bring to a boil  in medium heat: water, butter, sugar, tsp salt.    Reduce heat to low and add the flour.  Mix and stir until the dough clings together and comes off the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl, then add 3 eggs.  Mix together with a spatula until the dough binds together with the eggs.  May take a bit of time, but patience is the key.  Remember, it is a simple recipe.   Once everything is mixed through, you should have a sticky soft dough.  Spoon some into a piping bag with a large star tip.

Pipe about 9-10cm strips into a saucepan with hot oil (or a deep fryer).  Depending on the size of your deep fryer or saucepan, pipe 3-4 strips and cook until golden brown.

Place the churros on a plate with kitchen towel to dry off some of that oil.

Then transfer into the dish/tray with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Just jiggle the tray or roll the churros to coat.

Serve on a plate with chocolate sauce.

To make the chocolate sauce, I did not use Joy’s recipe but instead made my own concoction of:: 

½ cup water 

½ c milk

3 tbsp cocoa powder, and 

3 tbsp sugar

Depending on your taste preference, you can add more cocoa powder or sugar.   Mix this all together using a whisk over medium heat until all the cocoa and sugar has melted and the sauce has a light but not too thick consistency.

This chocolate sauce should not be too sweet, as it should complement the already sweet-cinnamon-pampered churros.

Simple yet filling.  Easy to make and yet never fails to impress.  We must make this more often!  

There are a lot of churros recipes online available with just a click, but this one from Joy the Baker was the one worth keeping.  I like that she puts photos of every step!  Market Manila also has a recipe for churros here.

P.S. - The churros while frying were a bit bubbly in texture.  Mum can only guess it is from the egg (?).  Not sure. Despite this, the end product is still delicioso!