Day-

Churros + chocolate
I prefer these over a stack of pancakes any given Sunday –
frankly, any iteration of fried dough and cinnamon is my
morning weakness.


Eggs aren’t added to a very traditional churros dough, but I like
the custardy inner the egg creates. Use a regular star nozzle (not
the fancy ultra-ridged éclair piping ones) to get more creases –
these will capture more chocolate later down the churros road.


The hot chocolate recipe can be tweaked to match your tastes.


Make it thicker or thinner, or make double if you are a double,
nay, triple dipper.

Weigh the flour and cinnamon together and set aside.Crack three eggs
into a bowl and hand whisk lightly. Weigh 120 g (4½ oz) and hold the
excess (and the last egg) to the side in case you need it to adjust the batter.


The egg amount matters here. Too much and the churros will be explosive
and too eggy inside – not as crisp for dipping. Too little and the churros will
be heftier in texture.

You can also use excess egg whites if the batter needs any extra egg to
reach the right consistency.

In a 20 cm (8 in) wide saucepan, heat the water, butter, sugar and salt
over a low heat until the butter has melted. Then turn up the heat to
medium–high to boil.


The butter can start at any temperature, but just ensure it is melted before
the boiling begins. Too much evaporation here will mean your final churros
are a bit heftier.

The moment the mixture boils, immediately remove the saucepan
from the heat and tip all the flour/cinnamon in. Stir well with a wooden
spoon to form a ball of stiff paste. Return the saucepan to medium–
high heat. Cook the dough ball for around 3 minutes, smooshing it
across the base of the saucepan constantly. The ball should leave a
thin blond film of dough on the b ase.

continued
Keeps Best eaten just after frying and
rolling in sugar, but you can make
these a few hours ahead and reheat
in an oven at 200°C (390°F) for
5–7  minutes. (Don’t refry it makes
them taste super oily!) You can make
the batter up to 3 days ahead. You
can  also make the ho-cho in advance
and reheat.


Makes 20 churros, 10 cm (4 in) long. Takes 30 minutes to make the dough,
chill overnight, then 45  minutes to
heat the oil and fr y.
155 g (5 ½ oz) bakers’ (strong/
bread) flour
2 g (116 oz/1 teaspoon) freshly
ground cinnamon
3–4 large eggs
250 g/ml (9 oz) water
110 g (4 oz) unsalted butter
20 g oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 g (116 oz/¼ teaspoon) fine sea salt
approx. 1.5 litres (51 fl oz/6  cups)
rice bran oil, for frying (or other
neutral-flavoured oil such as
canola or peanut oil)
Cinnamon sugar
100 g (3½ oz) raw (or plain)
caster (superfine) sugar
3 g ₁₀ oz/1 heaped teaspoon)
freshly ground cinnamon
1g (⅟ ₃₂ oz/¼ teaspoon) sea salt
flakes, to taste
Hot chocolate sauce
100 g/ml (3½ oz) cream
(35% milkfat)
100 g/ml (3½ oz) full-cream
(whole) milk
120 g (4½ oz) good bittersweet
chocolate (50–60% cocoa)
30 g/ml (1 oz) PX sherry (optional
but so nice, even at breakfast)
30 g (1 oz) raw caster (superfine)
sugar
10 g oz) Dutch (unsweetened)
cocoa powder
1 g (⅟ ₃₂ oz/¼ teaspoon) sea salt
flakes