Churros!

I seem to be on a sweet streak this week-sorbet, now churros.. 

SO, here are 3 good reasons for making churros-

1.They taste DIVINE when served piping hot-sweet, crisp, with a hint of cinnamon and SOOOO light!

2.They are really easy to make.

3.Most cooks will have all the ingredients required in the kitchen at any given point of time.

Finally, here are MY reasons for making them-

1. Making pate a choux makes me feel terribly accomplished.

2.I want churros.

 

Convinced you, didn't I?

I'll take that as a yes. So, to begin, you will need-eggs, all purpose flour, castor sugar, ground cinnamon, butter, a neutral oil to deep fry and water.

Sift the flour and castor sugar together and put it aside. In the meanwhile take a nice heavy bottomed saucepan and heat the butter and water in it. Wait until all the butter melts and the water has begun to boil. Take the pan off the heat and add the flour mixture in ALL at once. Using a spoon/wooden spatula, beat the mixture well until flour has blended thoroughly. Put it back on medium heat and beat it until it looks like the mixture in the picture below- it shouldn't stick to the sides of the pan and possibly begin to leave a film at the bottom.

Take the pan off the heat again, make a well and break an egg into it. Beat it to a smooth paste before adding the next egg. Repeat and add the third egg. 

Keep at it for a few minutes. You're done when the mixture is smooth, lump free and glossy, like this one below!

Mix the cinnamon powder with the remaining castor sugar. Now its time to break out your pastry/piping bag. Heat oil. Deep fry the churros until they're an even golden brown and crisp. When they're VERY hot, dust them with the cinnamon sugar.

And then, eat up!! Mmmm...This made me SO happy today, You have NO idea!

Recipe

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup

Castor Sugar - 5 tbspns

Butter - 6 tbspns

Water - 1 cup

Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp

Eggs - 3 eggs

Neutral Oil - enough to fry with, you decide!

Sift together flour and 2-3 tbspns of the sugar. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the butter and water. When the butter melts and the water's started boiling, take the pan off the heat and pour in the flour mixture all at once.

Mix well using a spoon/wooden spatula until it is well blended. Put the pan back on moderate heat and keep beating until the mixture begins to leave the sides of the pan and a thin film coats the bottom.

Take the pan off the heat again. Make a well in the flour mixture and break an egg into the well immediately. With a spoon, mix vigorously until the egg has totally blended in. Do the same with the other 2 eggs. Keep beating until you have a nice smooth, lump free mixture.

Mix the remaining castor sugar with the ground cinnamon.

Spoon the mixture into a piping/pastry bag. Use a star nozzle. 1/2 inch (1 cm) should do it. 

Heat the oil to 375 degrees F. Pipe 4 inch (10 cm) lengths into the hot oil. Fry until the churros are crisp and an even golden-brown.

Remove from the oil and drain for a few seconds on a paper towel. Dust the churros with cinnamon sugar when they're REALLY hot. Serve immediately.

O.K., now, a couple of things- instead of deep frying the mixture, you can pipe nice 10 cm lengths of it, or little blobs if it makes you happier, on a cookie sheet lined with butter paper, and bake the lot until it is golden brown on top.

Then, if you've made blobs, you slice each in half horizontally and fill the puffs with creme chantilly (whipped cream with sugar in it and maybe vanilla, if you like).

If you've made long ones, then you make a little hole in one end, and pipe in a mixture of creme chantilly and custard. Dip the top of the puff in chocolate and voila! You've made yourself an eclair.

Alright, enough of that, sorry if I've bored you, let me know how it goes!!