Salted Chocolate, Chilli and Lime Churros

If you happened to read my first every blog post for turkish delight cupcakes way back at the end of  September 2015, you will know that I have promised to post whatever bake I have chosen to tackle, regardless of how it goes. So far I have stuck to that promise and unfortunately, in this instance, I will be sticking to it again.

As with the decoration on the lemon and aronia berry iced biscuits or even the more general mishap that was my attemptlime, cardamom and coconut meringues, I have to say that my salted chocolate, chilli and lime churros could have gone better (I’m starting to think that citrus fruits hate me). I have made them once before, again during my course at the Grange cookery school and it’s safe to say that I have met with varying degrees of success on both occasions. In this instance I really should have learnt from my mistakes and chosen a different recipe, but after lounging in front of the Undateables for too long, I was in a bit of a mad dash to get dinner prepared before my friend Amy came round,  so I had to whip up something quickly. The recipe that I had planned on trying was from Martha Stewart and involved combining a list of ingredients, including eggs, over heat in a not entirely dissimilar method to choux pastry. However, the recipe I used from BBC Good Food (I feel so betrayed), was a lot quicker as it omitted any eggs and simply melted some of the ingredients before adding them to the flour mix. As a result, the mix was a bit too runny to pipe properly and the idea of trying little heart shapes was quickly scrapped. However, I cannot complain really complain too much. Once I’d manage to pipe a few rough lines, they ended up tasting pretty good! I whacked my baking tray in the freezer for about half an hour to firm them up (which will be really handy if you can get any kind of precision with your piping) but you’ll have to be quick when frying them as they don’t take long to defrost.

But, churros aside, apparently I need to up my chocolate sauce game too. In fairness, I did in some ways almost ruin it deliberately through lack of time and preparation (moral of the story children), but again it could have also been worse. I decided to flavour my sauce with salt, chilli and lime in order to bring out the more Spanish roots. I used fresh chilli, which is nice if you want hits of heat as opposed infusing it throughout the sauce, in which case I would use chilli flakes. But otherwise I would just recommend using lime zest and ordinary finely ground table salt for the rest of the flavours. I have made salted caramel a few times.Therefore you would think I would be a little more careful when adding salt willy-nilly to things from the few experiences I have had were it has ended up being the dominant flavour. However, this was not the case here. After adding too much salt, I tried to compensate by adding lime juice as I had already used all the zest and this, of course, made the sauce curdle. It was still nice, but as a result it didn’t coat the churros as thickly it should when you dipped it in. But you live and learn. So now you have actually taken the time to read this blog post on how rubbish I am at making Churros, hopefully you will be able to offer any corrections if you are brave enough to try the recipe yourself. While it may be Churros 2- Sarah 0, I have not been beaten yet. Either way I hope you enjoy.

Salted Chocolate, Chilli and Lime Churros

For the churros

• 25g butter, melted
• Dash of vanilla extract
• 125g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Large bottle of sunflower oil
• Approx. 25g caster sugar
• Approx. 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

For the sauce

• 50g dark chocolate
• 25g butter
• 125ml double cream
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
• Zest of 1 lime
• Approx. 1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. For the churros, measure out 175ml boiling water and add the melted butter and vanilla essence.
2. Put the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and create a well in the middle. Gradually add the liquid and stir until it forms a smooth dough. Leave to stand for 15 minutes.
3. Once rested, pipe the dough onto lined baking sheets and pop in the freezer for about half an hour.
4. Meanwhile make the chocolate sauce. Completely melt the chocolate over a bain marie and put to one side. Heat the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Then stir the chocolate in and taste to make sure the flavours are right. You can always add more salt, chilli and lime zest to suit your taste.
5. Mix the sugar and the cinnamon for the churros in small bowl and pour evenly over a baking tray.
6. Heat the oil in large saucepan. You need the temperature to be relatively hot, so if you dip in a chunk of bread it should immediately start to fry. Once the oil is hot enough, remove the churros from the freezer and put in a few at the time. Turn them every now and again  and remove when they are golden and slightly crisp on both sides. Once cooked remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl with some kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil. Then tip straight onto the tray with the sugar and the cinnamon and coat all the sides evenly.
7. Serve with the warm dipping sauce.