Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

• 150 gplain flour
• 3 tbspcaster sugar, for rolling
• 1 tspground cinnamon, for rolling
• 240 mlwater
• 2 tbspcaster sugar
• ½ tspsalt
• 2 tbspvegetable oil, for the dough
• 1pinch chilli powder
• 200 mldouble cream
• 200 gdark chocolate, 70%, roughly chopped
• 1 tbspgolden syrup
• About 750 ml vegetable oil, for deep frying; most remains in the pan

Method

1. 1Start with the dipping sauce. Heat the double cream in a small pan until just steaming and bubbles fringe the edge; don't let it boil, or the cream splits and the sauce turns greasy. Pour over the chopped chocolate, leave for 2 minutes to soften, then stir from the centre outward until glossy. Stir in the golden syrup and the pinch of chilli powder. Taste it; that whisper of salt from the chocolate should lift the bitterness; if it tastes flat, add the tiniest pinch of salt to wake it up. Keep warm over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally.
2. 2Tip the water, 2 tbsp caster sugar, the half-teaspoon of salt and 2 tbsp vegetable oil into a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil; that salt isn't optional, it's what stops the dough tasting of raw flour. Take off the heat and beat in the flour all at once with a wooden spoon. Work quickly: 30–40 seconds of hard beating until the dough comes together smooth, glossy, and pulls cleanly away from the sides in a single ball. Rest for 5 minutes; this lets the flour fully hydrate so the dough pipes without splitting.
3. 3Mix the 3 tbsp caster sugar with the cinnamon on a wide plate, spreading it out so the churros have room to roll.
4. 4Spoon the warm dough into a strong piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Put enough frying oil in a deep heavy pan to reach about 5 cm, never filling the pan more than halfway. Heat to 180°C using a cooking thermometer. Keep the oil near that temperature while frying.
5. 5Pipe 12cm lengths straight into the oil, snipping with oiled scissors. Fry in batches of 3–4; don't crowd the pan, or the oil temperature crashes and you'll get pale, greasy churros instead of crisp ones. Cook for 3–4 minutes, turning once or twice, until deep golden brown and properly crisp; pale churros are doughy churros. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper.
6. 6While still hot and hissing, roll the churros through the cinnamon sugar until thickly coated; the residual oil is the glue, so don't dawdle. Taste one: the sugar should crackle, the inside should be tender, and you should feel that pinch of salt humming underneath. Adjust the cinnamon-sugar plate now if it needs more bite.
7. 7Pile the churros onto a platter, dust with any remaining measured cinnamon sugar, and set the small bowls of warm chocolate sauce alongside for dipping. Serve immediately; churros wait for no one.

Per serving

kcal

822

protein

8.7g

fibre

6.9g

carbs

76.5g

fat

52.5g