Homemade Churros with Cardamom and Chocolate

I just had to share my favorite dessert of all time, in the hopes of keeping the Valentine’s Day fire on: the Mexican churro with cinnamon-cardamom sugar and dark chocolate dip. Plus a fragrant spin with cardamom and star anise in the mix–familiar with a heady hint of exotic! Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, all smothered with a sinfully dark chocolate sauce.

Step: 1

Bring water to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Add vegetable oil, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine. Add flour and turn off heat. Stir continuously and vigorously with a wooden spoon until dough balls up and follows your spoon around the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside to cool when dough feels firm and supple.

Step: 2

Heat 3/4- to 1 inch of grapeseed oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat.

Step: 3

While oil heats, combine heavy cream, dark chocolate, chocolate-hazelnut spread, butter, sugar, and ground coffee in a pan set over lowest heat. Stir often to ensure even melting, 3 to 5 minutes.

Step: 4

Grease the inside of a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Insert dough and squeeze it all the way to the bottom of the bag.

Step: 5

Insert the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil heating in the pot; if it bubbles steadily, the oil is ready. Carefully squeeze dough out of the bag directly into the hot oil, cutting it off at 6-inch lengths. You can also pipe lengths of dough onto parchment paper and transfer them to the oil by hand. Do not crowd the pot.

Step: 6

Fry churros, turning every minute, for 2 to 3 minutes total. Transfer fried churros to a dish lined with paper towels.

Step: 7

Place cardamom seeds, cinnamon stick, and star anise in a spice grinder and blend to a fine powder. Transfer to a wide dish and add sugar. Mix well to combine.

Step: 8

Toss warm churros into the cinnamon-cardamom sugar. Serve alongside a dipping cup of the chocolate sauce.

Per Serving: 528 calories; protein 3.5g; carbohydrates 58.9g; fat 32.2g; cholesterol 28.7mg; sodium 888.2mg.

The best flavour of the flour could make a real difference to your bread. Different makers do vary. Great taste or Canadian flours, which are bet higher in gluten, may give you a best rise than standard dough flours – especially if you’re make wholemeal dough , which not always getting bigger as well as clear bread.

To made this in a breadmaker , add all the ingredients to your breadmaker and follow the makers instructions.

A bread first rising can be done in the fridge 24 hours . This slows down the time it takes to rise to double its size, giving it a deeper flavour. It’s also a great limit , as you can start it yesterday , then clear it off the next day.