Could you imagine the stampede around a Midtown coffee cart not selling those sad puffy doughnuts and bready bagels but these instead? Like, I’m actually angry this doesn’t exist yet. This also means the universe owes me an explanation of why they’re not as popular here as they are in South America, Spain and Portugal. This means (Item 2) that they’re not actually difficult to make, but a paste of flour and water with a little butter, sugar and flavoring that you beat eggs into. Google confirmed my a-ha moment: did you realize that churros are basically long, piped and fried eclair/cream puff dough? Well, the first notion began to unravel a recently as we chomped through a plate of them at Rosie’s, a newish restaurant in my neighborhood, when I realized for the first time that these long, ridged doughnuts weren’t your usual cake or yeast doughnut texture inside, but something else - almost custardy within, very crunchy outside, as if they were made from an eggy, puffy dough. This week, set out to disprove all three.
PS BONUS: Churros impresses people.Prior to a few months ago, the full extent of my understanding of churros was: And though, like doughnuts, they are still delicious when cold and soft, it’s definitely worth popping them in the oven to reheat and more importantly, crisp up again.Īnd if you are making these ahead intentionally (as opposed to just reheating leftovers), store the churros WITHOUT the sugar coating – this will make them reheat to near freshly cooked perfection, then just roll in the cinnamon sugar and serve! – Nagi x They stay warm and crisp for around 20 minutes once they come out of the oil, which is ample time to cook a whole batch, coat in cinnamon sugar then serve.Īfter 30 minutes or so, they soften. I’ll just tell you now – there’s two missing!Īs with anything deep fried, churros are at their prime when they’re freshly made.
Managing a dipping sauce while on the move can become a bit tricky, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.Īt home, I just pile them up on a platter with a little cup of the dipping sauce, then you just dunk and eat!ĭon’t count the churros and compare to what the recipe says it will make. It’s traditionally a street snack, so you buy one long one or a little paper cup with a few shorter ones in it, then eat it while walking around on the street.
I know this might sound like an odd section to include for those of you with extensive churros eating experience – but actually, churros is not so common here in Australia so let me describe how to eat it! You could also make shorter ones for small bite size options, and if you don’t have a piping bag, just drop balls of dough into the oil and make churros doughnuts!
Around 15cm / 6″ is a more practical length – still long enough to look impressive, but short enough to cook in a standard size household pot. They come in varying lengths, with longer ones (ie 30cm / 1 foot) being more of a novelty type at carnivals and tourist hot spots. Because the batter is so thick, you can pipe the batter out and it will hang from the piping bag as you lower it into the oil (as opposed to dropping out, causing the oil to splash), then just snip with scissors. The safest and easiest way to cook churros is to use scissors.
The batter is a mere dump-and-mix job, and it’s got a unique thick “gummy” texture so the churros holds its form when it’s piped, even before it hits the oil. They taste like cinnamon doughnuts – but BETTER because you’ve got crispy ridges. The inside is fluffy like a doughnut and they are at their prime freshly made, but they reheat exceptionally well too making them a great make ahead for parties!
There’s no sugar in the batter – with the cinnamon sugar coating plus mandatory dipping sauce, you absolutely don’t need it. But with the promise of hot crispy churros waiting on the other side, and also because we only need to shallow fry rather than deep fry like when making things like Fried Chicken, we deem churros to be Fry-Worthy.Īlso, it’s FRY-day today.? (FRIday) Admit it, you laughed!!Īll you need is flour, baking powder, oil and boiling water to make the batter, then cinnamon and sugar for coating.īoiling water is key here – it makes the batter a unique “gummy” texture so when piped and cooked, it retains the signature ridges. We don’t break out the deep fryer very often around here.