What do you know about Spanish churros? You know that you can’t get enough of the deliciously sweet snack dipped in liquid chocolate, but what about their history? What are traditional churros ingredients? What’s an easy churros recipe? Are homemade churros better than frozen? We’ll give you the answers to all these questions. But let’s start at the beginning.
HISTORY OF THE CHURRO
How was the Spanish churro born? Well, it’s complicated and opinion is divided. Some say they are a descendant of a Chinese pastry, called ‘youtiao’, a breadstick like snack fried in oil that Portuguese explorers brought back to Spain.
Another more romantic theory is that churros were invented by Spanish shepherds that fried a dough made of flour, water, and salt as an alternative to fresh bread. They were easy to make and fry in an open fire in the mountains. And the name? Legend says that it was named after the ridged horns of the native Churra sheep.
Whichever you believe, today, they’re loved worldwide from the Philippines to South America.
WHAT ARE CHURROS?
In Spain, churros con chocolate are traditionally a breakfast or afternoon treat served in cafes or specialised churrerias – some say they are a hangover cure. This classic Spanish sweet snack is made from a choux pastry style mix, piped with a star-shaped nozzle into long straight or curled fingers. They’re then fried in oil and coated in a mix of sugar and cinnamon. Street sellers fry churros freshly on street stands and sell them hot. Delicious.
HOMEMADE CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE RECIPE
Want an easy churros recipe using the best churro ingredients? Basco chef and boss Javier De La Hormaza has the perfect one. It’s A totally authentic homemade churros recipe and reminds him of his childhood when he would be treated to churros from a street vendor, and take them back to his grandma’s wrapped in paper like fish and chips. She would then make hot chocolate fresh and all the family would sit down and devour them.
In this recipe, Javier pairs churros with a silky hot chocolate made from Toblerone. The small pieces of nougat give the sauce some extra crunch and a delicious nutty flavour.
CHURROS INGREDIENTS
For the churros:
250ml water.
110g unsalted butter.
150g strong flour, use the ‘000’ type.
2g caster sugar.
2g salt.
2 large eggs.
Sunflower oil (approximately 1Ltr) for deep fat frying.
Caster sugar and 1 tsp of powdered cinnamon for coating the churros.
For the chocolate sauce:
150g Toblerone chocolate
50g dark chocolate, minimum of 70% cocoa solids.
200ml whole milk.
100ml single cream.
40g caster sugar.
Small pinch of fine sea salt.
Few knobs of butter.
METHOD
Making the churro paste is actually very easy.
- Simply bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil. As soon as it starts boiling, turn the heat off and stir the flour in with a wooden spoon or spatula. Mix the batter well so there are no lumps, being left with a smooth paste.
- Allow the paste to cool down for a couple of minutes and add the eggs one at the time, beating the mix with a wooden spoon until the paste fully absorbs them.
- Pre-heat the deep fat fryer to 180˚C or heat 4 inches of oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan.
- Place the churro paste into a piping bag with a star nozzle. For best results, it’s important to work with the paste whilst it’s still warm.
- On the side, prepare two plates, one with kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil and another with the caster sugar and cinnamon mix, so you can coat the churros all over.
- When the oil is hot, squeeze from the piping bag a spiral shape long churro, piping as far as the diameter of the fryer or pan can fit. When you reach the end, use a small knife to cut the paste from pouring any further. Use a pair of tongs to dip the spiral in the oil. Once the churro has a golden brown colour, turn to the other side and fry again until golden; be careful as they will not take long.
- Remove carefully from the oil, strain the excess oil on the kitchen towel and dip in the sugar and cinnamon mix. Using a pair of scissors, cut the churros to the length you prefer. Repeat with the rest of the batter mix.
- For the chocolate sauce, place the milk, cream and sugar in a pan and place on a medium heat. Chop the chocolate into small pieces with a knife or use a grater. Just before the milk boils, remove from the heat and add the broken chocolate, stirring well with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bring the pan back to the heat and stir until fully dissolved but without boiling. It should have the consistency of double cream. Season with sea salt and stir in a few knobs of butter to make the sauce silky and smooth.
- Serve the hot chocolate in coffee cups, accompanied by the churros and a glass of iced water.
Want the authentic taste of homemade churros but with zero effort? We have ready-made Frozen Churros which are one of our best sellers. Each 2kg pack contains up to 40 churro hoops which are ready in just 3 minutes. Just pop them into a pan of hot oil – no mess, no waste – just hot, delicious Spanish churros.
Then there’s the chocolate. We’ve two quick, thick and luxurious churro chocolate options for you.
Made in Navarra by skilful artisan Spanish chocolatiers since 1847, our 200g tablets of Pedro Mayo Hot Chocolate create 2 litres of thick, full flavoured and creamy churro chocolate in minutes when mixed with fresh milk, boiled and thickened. Alternatively, our 800g bags of Pedro Mayo Hot Chocolate powder create 4 litres of hot chocolate. Both create heavenly and silky smooth hot chocolate for dipping churros.
Whether you go to the slight effort of rustling up homemade churros and hot chocolate or let Basco give you a helping hand, I guarantee you’ll have fun indulging in this scrumptious authentic Spanish treat.
