Churros with Chocolate Sauce

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Description
Spanish-style doughnuts with wickedly thick hot chocolate made with real chocolate - for a rainy or snowy day.

Ingredients

 * 125 g salted butter in cubes
 * 150 g plain white flour, sifted
 * 15 g caster sugar or vanilla sugar
 * 6 medium eggs, beaten
 * sunflower oil, for frying
 * sugar to decorate
 * 350 g dark chocolate, chopped (ideally 70 per cent cocoa solids or higher)
 * 200 ml milk

Directions

 * 1) Heat 250 ml boiling water with the butter in a deep, heavy-based saucepan for 2 minutes, uncovered, until the mixture boils, then tip in the sifted flour and sugar and beat hard over the heat for 30 seconds until it clumps together. Remove and cool for 2 minutes in a sink of cold water. Remove.
 * 2) With an electric, hand-held whisk, whisk in the eggs one at a time. Once all 6 eggs are added, spoon the mix into a piping bag with a rosette nozzle and chill for 30 minutes.
 * 3) Heat 4cm oil in a medium heavy-based pan until a cube of stale bread browns in 20 seconds. Pipe straight or curly shapes of paste into the oil with one hand and chop off the paste using scissors with the other. Cook for 1 minute, then turn with tongs, cook for 1 minute more and drain. (NB: When the churros start to brown too quickly, turn the heat off and let the oil cool down a little so that the churros turn a lovely golden colour.) Serve dusted with sugar.
 * 4) To make the hot chocolate, combine the chopped chocolate and milk in a large heavy-based saucepan and stir over moderate heat until the chocolate has melted. Serve with the churros.

Contributed by
A Taste of Savoie