Churros con chocolate

Ingredients

Churro dough

• 250 gplain flour
• 500 mlwater
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 1 tablespoonolive oil

To fry

• oil, for deep frying
• caster sugar, for dusting

Hot chocolate

• 200 gdark chocolate, chopped
• 500 mlwhole milk
• 1 tablespooncornflour
• 2 tablespoonssugar, or to taste
• a pinch of salt
• a small piece of cinnamon stick

Equipment

• a piping bag
• a large closed star nozzle
• a deep pan
• a thermometer

Directions

1. Put the water, salt and oil in a pan. Bring it to a full rolling boil. Take the pan off the heat entirely. Tip in all of the flour at once. Beat it hard with a wooden spoon. Keep beating for another minute. It should be smooth and pull from the pan.
2. Let it cool for about ten minutes. It should be warm rather than hot. Steam builds inside and has nowhere to go. Use a large closed star nozzle. Piping them takes some strength.
3. Fill a sturdy piping bag with the warm dough. The dough is stiff and takes real force. Cut each one off with scissors. Frying them needs steady heat. Pour oil into a deep pan to eight centimetres. Never fill a pan more than halfway with oil. Heat the oil to about 180C for frying. Too cool and they soak up oil and go heavy.
4. Fry them for about three minutes a side. Turn them once over with tongs. They should be deep golden and firm. Lift one out and break it open to check. The inside should be cooked and slightly soft.
5. Lift them onto a wire rack to drain. A rack keeps them crisp all round. Dust them with caster sugar at once. The sugar clings to the hot surface. Mix the cornflour with a little cold milk. Make a smooth paste with no lumps. Heat the rest of the milk with the cinnamon. Add the chopped chocolate to it. Stir it until it melts completely.
6. Keep the heat low and very gentle. Whisk in the cornflour paste now. Keep whisking as it comes to a simmer. It thickens noticeably within two minutes.
7. Add the sugar and the pinch of salt. It should coat the back of a spoon heavily. Add more milk if it is too stiff. Add more cornflour paste if it is thin. Serving it is done immediately while hot. Pour the chocolate into small thick cups. Pile the churros on a plate alongside. Dip it, bite it and dip it again. They must be eaten hot and fresh.

Technique

• Chocolate reached Spain from Mexico in the sixteenth century, and Spain drank it long before the rest of Europe.
• Chocolateria San Gines in Madrid has served churros with chocolate since eighteen ninety-four and stays open through the night.
• The star nozzle is not decorative: the ridges add crisp surface and let steam escape, where a smooth churro can burst in the oil.

Substitutions

• Porras are a thicker version of the same idea, made with a raising agent.
• Good cocoa powder with cornflour can replace the chocolate in the drink.

Variations

• Madrid churros are often served unsugared, since the chocolate supplies the sweetness.
• Some places fill churros with dulce de leche or chocolate.
• Porras and churros are sold side by side at most stalls.

History

Fried dough pastries, piped into long ridged strips and deep-fried until crisp, traditionally dusted with sugar and served alongside a cup of thick, rich drinking chocolate for dipping, documented across Spain for many generations as a beloved breakfast food and snack, particularly popular in the early morning or late at night after a night out. Its thick drinking chocolate accompaniment, notably thicker than typical hot chocolate elsewhere, is specifically formulated to hold up to dipping without becoming too diluted, reflecting a specific Spanish culinary tradition surrounding this particular pairing. Churros con chocolate remains one of Spain’s most iconic and widely recognized culinary traditions, closely tied to Spanish café culture.

Frequently asked questions

What is Churros con chocolate?

Churros con chocolate is a breakfast from Spain: fried dough sticks dipped in thick hot chocolate. Fried dough pastries, piped into long ridged strips and deep-fried until crisp, traditionally dusted with sugar and served alongside a cup of thick, rich drinking chocolate for dipping, documented across Spain for many generations as a beloved breakfast food and snack, particularly popular in the early morning or late at night after a night out. Its thick drinking chocolate accompaniment, notably thicker than typical hot chocolate elsewhere, is specifically formulated to hold up to dipping without becoming too diluted, reflecting a specific Spanish culinary tradition surrounding this particular pairing. Churros con chocolate remains one of Spain’s most iconic and widely recognized culinary traditions, closely tied to Spanish café culture.

How long does Churros con chocolate take to make?

Churros con chocolate takes 20 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Churros con chocolate?

Yes, within limits. Porras are a thicker version of the same idea, made with a raising agent. Good cocoa powder with cornflour can replace the chocolate in the drink.

What is the most important thing to get right in Churros con chocolate?

Let it cool for about ten minutes. It should be warm rather than hot. Steam builds inside and has nowhere to go. Use a large closed star nozzle. Piping them takes some strength.