Churros Delicious For Breakfast, Dessert
If Spain has a national pastry, it’s the churro. Everyone from tots in strollers to businesswomen in tailored suits can be seen most mornings clutching one of these golden, deep-fried goodies.
In coffee shops across the country, customers line up for a morning espresso and a heap of churros served on a small paper plate. The churros resemble 5-inch lengths of thick rope bent in the middle. They’re so light and airy, it’s almost like eating cotton candy.
I much prefer the more doughnutlike churros available in our country. I don’t know how the Spaniards make their churros so light but they can have them. I suspect that when making the batter, they omit the egg yolks and butter. I’d rather have a batch of my homemade, egg-rich churros any day.
Churros taste great for breakfast or for dessert after a Spanish or Mexican-style meal. The recipe we used, from “A Taste of Cuba” by Linette Green, makes a lot of batter. You may cut the recipe in half if desired.
The original recipe called for dropping the batter - actually a thin dough - by tablespoons into the hot oil. In Spain, the batter is forced through a press that etches ridges on the sides of the churros. At home, for a more authentic-looking churro, I use a pastry bag. I fill the bag with the thick batter but do not use a decorating tip. Then I squeeze out long ropes of batter through the unadorned round opening.
The churros take just a minute or two to fry. Dust them with cinnamon sugar while still warm.
Churros
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) melted butter
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 cups flour
Oil for deep frying
Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, milk, butter and baking powder. Slowly add flour, whisking until smooth.
Heat 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil to 375 degrees in a deep fryer or heavy kettle. Spoon batter into a pastry bag with no tip in place (use the coupling mechanism, however).
Squeeze batter into hot oil in 5-inch lengths. Fry in batches until golden (a minute or two), turning once. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Yield: About 20 churros.
Nutrition information per churro: 298 calories, 17 grams fat (51 percent fat calories), 3.5 grams protein, 34 grams carbohydrate, 28 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 13 milligrams sodium.