CHURRO SAUCES RECIPES

Steps:

• Boil the kettle, then measure 300ml boiling water into a jug and add the melted butter and vanilla extract. Sift the flour and baking powder into a big mixing bowl with a big pinch of salt. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the contents of the jug and very quickly beat into the flour with a wooden spoon until lump-free. Rest for 10-15 mins while you make the sauce.
• Put all the sauce ingredients into a pan and gently melt together, stirring occasionally until you have a smooth shiny sauce. Keep warm on a low heat.
• Fill a large deep saucepan one-third full of oil. Cooking with hot oil can be dangerous – before you start, read up on how to deep-fry safely to avoid accidents in the kitchen. Heat until a cube of bread browns in 45 seconds to 1 min. Cover a tray with kitchen paper and mix the caster sugar and cinnamon together.
• Fit a star nozzle to a piping bag – 1.5-2cm wide is a good size. Fill with the rested dough, then pipe 2-3 strips directly into the pan, snipping off each dough strip with a pair of kitchen scissors. Fry until golden brown and crisp. Be very careful here – if air bubbles form in the churros they can explode, especially if the oil overheats or you use old flour. Cooking with hot oil can be dangerous – before you start, read up on how to deep-fry safely to avoid accidents in the kitchen. Keep children out of the kitchen and protect yourself by wearing long sleeves and eye protection, and keeping your face away from the pan.
• Once the churros are crisp and golden brown, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on the kitchen paper-lined tray. Carry on cooking the rest of the dough in batches, sprinkling the cooked churros with some cinnamon sugar as you go. When you’ve cooked all the churros, toss with any remaining cinnamon sugar and serve with the chocolate sauce, for dipping. To see a video of how to prepare churros, take a look at our churros ice cream sandwich recipe.

Steps:

• Prepare the sauce: Wash, dry and hull the strawberries, then transfer them to a food processor. Pulse a few times until the strawberries are almost puréed. Transfer strawberry mixture to a medium saucepan, cover, and simmer over low heat until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and stir in brown sugar and vanilla extract. Add more brown sugar to adjust sweetness to taste; set strawberry sauce aside. (You should have about 2 cups.)
• Prepare the churros: Pour canola oil into a large pot to a depth of 2 inches. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Pour granulated sugar and cinnamon into a wide, shallow bowl and stir to combine.
• In a medium pot or saucepan (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat, bring liqueur, salt and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat, then gradually add flour, stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat until well blended; the dough will be sticky and should resemble wet cement.
• When the dough is done, heat the oil to 350 degrees. Working in batches if necessary, scrape the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large French star pastry tip, or use a resealable plastic bag with the tip cut off.
• Pipe the dough into the hot oil in 6- to 8-inch lengths, using a knife to slice the dough away from the pastry tip as you go; do this in batches of four or five. Fry the churros, using tongs or chopsticks to turn them over a few times and keep them from melding together, until they are deep golden brown, about 6 minutes.
• Remove from oil and transfer to the prepared baking sheet to drain. While the churros as still hot, transfer them to the bowl with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and turn to coat evenly.
• Repeat with the rest of the dough. Serve warm with strawberry dipping sauce.