Tuesdays With Dorie - Not Your Traditional Cream Puff

I don’t remember where I first heard of churros. Maybe it was from the Food Network or from one of the many blogs I read everyday, but these fried delicacies intrigued me. While searching for recipes, I noticed that making churros was a lot like making pâte à choux.

So when I saw that Caroline, of A Consuming Passion, had chosen the Peppermint Cream Puff Ring for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie, I knew what my cream puff would become. Pâte à choux is quite simple to make and what makes them churros is their shape and the fact that they’re usually dipped in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Since I wanted to keep the mint aspect of the recipe, I omitted the cinnamon and added a little vanilla to the dough, for added flavor.

We all loved these, they were a real treat with the Chocolate Sauce and the Mint Scented Whipped Cream. If you’d like the recipe for Dorie’s Peppermint Cream Puff Ring, you can find it on pages 290-292 of Baking From My Home To Yours and on Epicurious. You'll also want to check out the Tuesdays With Dorie Blogroll to see what the other members came up with. If you want something less traditional, give these churros a try, I’m sure you won’t regret it!

Untraditional Churros
1 cup whole milk
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
2 eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar, for dipping

3 cups canola oil, for frying

In a medium saucepan, mix milk, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add vanilla. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball. It will take about one minute. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and let it cool about 5 minutes. Using your wooden spoon, beat in the eggs one at a time until they are incorporated in the dough. It will look lumpy at first, but the dough will come together.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat oil to 350F. Spoon the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Once the oil is hot, pipe in the batter into 3 to 3-1/2 inch long strips, cutting the strip with a knife or kitchen shears. Fry the churros until golden, about 4 minutes total, turning them once or twice. Remove them from the oil onto a paper towel lined baking sheet and let them cool enough to touch. Dip the churros in the granulated sugar to coat.

Chocolate Sauce
2 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate
1 cup milk
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp sugar (or to taste)

In a small saucepan, over low heat, place 1/2 cup milk with the chocolate and stir constantly until the chocolate is melted. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with the remaining 1/2 cup milk and stir it into the chocolate. Add the sugar and stirring with a whisk, cook the mixture until it has thickened. It will take about 5 minutes. If the chocolate sauce is lumpy, whisk it vigorously until it is smooth. Pour into cups or small bowls and top with Mint Scented Whipped Cream.

Mint Scented Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 to 3 tbsp sugar (to taste)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp peppermint extract (to taste)

Pour the heavy cream in your mixer bowl of choice and whip at medium speed until it starts to thicken. Add the sugar and the peppermint extract and whip until the cream holds its peaks. Spoon onto the chocolate sauce and, if you wish, decorate with some fresh mint leaves.