Freshly cooked churros, the classic Spanish doughnuts, rolled in chilli sugar and dipped in caramel sauce while still warm make a spectacular dessert.
Churros with chilli sugar & caramel sauce
For the full effect, serve with a small cup of thick, rich hot chocolate.
- 45 mins cooking
- Serves 6, Makes 40 Item
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Ingredients
Churros with chilli sugar & caramel sauce
- 100 gram (3 ounces) butter, chopped
- 1 cup (250ml) water
- 1 cup (150g) plain flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, beaten lightly
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways, seeds scraped
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Chilli sugar
- 5 dried small red chillies
- 1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar
Caramel sauce
- 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
- 1/2 cup (125ml) water
- 1 cup (250ml) thickened cream
Method
Churros with chilli sugar & caramel sauce
- 1To make the chilli sugar, process chilli until fine; add sugar, process until combined. Transfer to a plate.
- 2To make the caramel sauce. Stir sugar and the water in a small saucepan over low heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil; boil without stirring, until golden. Taking care as the mixture will splutter, add cream; stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat; cool.
- 3Bring butter and the water to the boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and salt; beat with a wooden spoon over high heat until mixture comes away from base and side of pan and forms a smooth ball.
- 4Transfer mixture to a small bowl of an electric mixer; beat in eggs, one at a time, with vanilla seeds and cinnamon until mixture is glossy. Spoon pastry mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm (¾-inch) fluted tube.
- 5Fill a large saucepan or deep fryer one-third full with oil; heat to 180°C/350°F (or until a cube of bread turns golden in 10 seconds). Pipe dough, in 10cm (4-inch) lengths, in batches, into oil (cut off lengths with a knife). Deep-fry churros for 4 minutes, turning halfway through, or until browned and cooked through. Drain on paper towel; immediately toss in chilli sugar. Transfer to a tray, cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining dough and chilli sugar.
- 6Serve churros with caramel sauce.
Notes
You can use 1 teaspoon chilli flakes instead of the dried chillies, but you will still need to process the mixture.