Churros with vanilla-sugar and chocolate sauce
INGREDIENTS
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Mar
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05
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Churros with vanilla-sugar and chocolate sauce
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We went off script this past Sunday and had churros for breakfast! Real fried churros because I've been feeling this urge to fry something. Maybe this cold, messy weather is doing weird things to my brain. Whatever the motivator, I got to make someth
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Do you know what I think about when I think of churros? The subway. Yes, I think of the New York subway system because in the days when I was going to college and working in NYC, I'd be hopping around on the subway and I remember seeing a lady sellin
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Churros are one of my "fantasy foods", a food that I feel familiar with but, in reality, have rarely eaten. The last time we had a churro was at SeaWorld over a year ago...and sadly, it was not very good. I vowed to make it at home one day so I can f
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So it was a struggle to take these pictures and capture my first churro-making moments because I was bent on enjoying these fresh and warm with my family. I managed well enough. And we dined on a breakfast of freshly fried churros rolled in vanilla-s
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Rolling the warm churros in vanilla-sugar
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As you probably know, the dough for the churro is similar to pate a choux in that you mix the dough together over the stove-top. In researching recipes for this inaugural churro endeavor of mine, I realized that churros can contain eggs or not. In th
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Instead of the more traditional coating of cinnamon-sugar, I decided to coat my churros in vanilla-sugar. It's delicious and you really taste those fresh vanilla beans. And without a doubt, I looked forward to dunking our churros in some chocolate sa
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I love ganache and I've been thinking about using/substituting with a water version more often. This has as much to do with convenience as anything because I don't often have cream in the house. And it might be silly to talk about saving some calorie
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In the face of frying, which I don't do very often, I wanted to be prepared. I put myself in a good starting position with this recipe. It's very simple. You bring a cup of water, 2 tablespoons oil, a tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to
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And you have your churro dough! Let it cool to room temperature (you can prepare this dough a few hours in advance and leave it covered at room temp). Now, for piping. I wanted to make things easier for myself and, for me, I thought piping the dough
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I settled on using the Wilton 1M star tip and I'm very happy I did. It gave the churros very distinct ridges that increase the crunchiness after frying. For this special occasion, I brought out and used a canvas piping bag - something I've had in my
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You can pipe the churros onto the parchment paper. No need to flour the paper. I found the dough easy to pick up and move around. I also tried piping this dough straight into the oil and it was actually not as difficult as I imagined. The dough - may
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In the interest of safety, I kept my camera away from the frying pan. I fried the dough in 375 degree oil and they take about 2-3 minutes per side and should be ready when golden. I used a thermometer but you can always make one first as a tester. Fr
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Once fried, I drain the churros for just a minute on paper towels and then rolled them in vanilla-sugar while they were still warm. I actually remembered to use my jar of vanilla sugar but also amped it up by adding the seeds of 1/3 of a vanilla pod
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I used just chocolate and water to make the sauce for dipping
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For the chocolate dipping or dunking sauce, I melted 60% dark chocolate and water over a pan of barely simmering water. When it comes to ratios, I've seen different ones for water ganaches and it depends on the thickness you're after. In this case, I
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This was a fun project! I really enjoyed making myself better acquainted with churros. And there is just so much satisfaction from doing something you've wanted to do and learning things along the way. It's all the better that this hobby of playing w
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Have you ever made churros? If so, did you use an egg or no-egg recipe?
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March 11, 2014: My son's Spanish class has been learning about food lately. He told me that they had to come up with a dessert idea today (how fun is that!). He and his partner decided on churros - with ice cream, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles. Hear
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Another update (April 2015): We recently took a trip to Chicago and had the pleasure of trying the "real deal" at Rick Bayless' eatery, XOCO! The churros were wonderful, certainly better than the ones I attempted at home! Fresh and warm from the frye
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I've learned that there is no shortage of amazing eats in Chicago, and getting a chance to try Rick Bayless' food was a major highlight. I had no idea the man was such an amazing chef; the flavors of his food was so unique and quite simply, delicious
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Recipe:
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Churros with Vanilla-Sugar and Chocolate Sauce
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Churro recipe adapted from Rick Bayless
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- Makes approximately eighteen 4-inch long churros -
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For churros:
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2 tablespoons vegetable oil
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1 tablespoon granulated sugar
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1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
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1 cup water
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1 cup all-purpose flour
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Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
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For vanilla-sugar coating:
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1/2 cup granulated sugar
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1/3 to 1/2 vanilla bean
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For chocolate sauce:
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4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
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1/2 cup water
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