Extra Spanish: Episode 1 - Home-made Baked Chocolate con Churros Recipe

¡Hola amigos de Steemit!
After all that grammar we deserve to treat ourselves - preferably with something smothered in chocolate - and what better way to do so than by chomping on a melt-in-the-mouth churro, hot from the oven?

As someone who has always been disappointed with her inability to make churros at home (due to a lack of deep-fat fryers in the kitchen), I was delighted when I stumbled across a recipe for baked churros - and also cynical, having seen the simplicity of the instructions. But I gave it a go, and was thrilled with the results (although admittedly more because of the absence of charcoal than by anything else).

So here you are, the recipe for lighter-than-air churros and devilish chocolate sauce. I wish you luck, although you won't need it - my ability to bake something without smouldering it serves as a guarantee of success for the rest of the population!

(Prep time: 25 mins. Cook time: 20 mins. Total time: 45 mins. Serves: 30.)

You will need ...
• 1 cup (8oz/225g) water
• 1/2 cup (4oz/113g) butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (white if you don't have brown)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (5oz/143g) plain flour/all purpose flour
• 3 eggs, at room temperature

For coating:
• 1/4 cups (4oz/113g) sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

For chocolate sauce:
• 6oz (1 cup/180g) bittersweet chocolate (at least 58% cacao), chopped
• 2 and 1/2 cups (20oz/570ml) milk
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch/cornflour (to be mixed with 2tsp of water)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Place two baking sheets on top of each other to bake the churros - this protects your delicate pastry. Line with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, add water, brown sugar, salt and butter. Place over medium-high heat. Heat until butter is melted and mixture starts to simmer. As soon as it is simmering, whisk in the flour. Whisk until there are no lumps and a dough ball has formed.
3. Now, using a wooden spoon you want to stir the dough around your pot and cook it for about a minute over LOW heat. The mixture will clump and pull away from the sides of the pan. Just do it for a minute :), then take it off the heat and set aside.
4. In a jug, combine eggs and vanilla and whisk together.
5. Using your wooden spoon add a little of your egg mix into your dough. Stir and mash, breaking up the dough until loosened. Stir well until eggs are incorporated and mixture has the appearance of mashed potatoes.
6. Continue adding your eggs until combined.
7. Transfer your dough to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
8. Pipe dough into long churros or desired shapes on the parchment-covered pans. Make sure to pipe them nice and thick. Do this by putting pressure on the bag and piping slowly.
9. Leave about 2 inches of space between the churros.
10. Bake for around 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. THEN turn off the oven and leave them in there for 10 minutes to dry a little. This step helps them to keep their shape and not go flat once they cool.
11. Combine sugar, cinnamon and salt in a ziplock baggie.
12. Take the churros straight from the oven and roll them in the cinnamon mixture until well-covered. It is best to do this while the churros are warm and fresh from the oven.
13. Enjoy your homemade churros with Spanish chocolate sauce (recipe below)!

For the chocolate sauce:

1. In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the milk until it starts to simmer.
2. Combine chocolate with the milk. Heat over a medium heat, until chocolate has melted.
3. Whisk the cornstarch mixed with water into the chocolate.
4. Cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly, until chocolate mixture begins to bubble. Reduce the heat and cook for 2 minutes, whisking, until thick.
5. Remove chocolate from heat and stir in vanilla.
6. Serve in large cup with churros.

Voilà! Your own churros at home, and no need for a deep-fat fryer! Who knew! I hope you had as much fun with this recipe as I did, and please share your photos in the comments below, as well on your thoughts on my new Extra Spanish series - would you prefer I focused on grammar and conversation instead? As always, thanks for reading and see you soon!

• The Loopy Linguist

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