Churros

If you're reading from the UK or the USA, you probably usually come across these tasty morsels at fairgrounds and circuses. In their home country, Spain, they're eaten for breakfast. Popular throughout Latin America too, I thought they'd be the perfect pudding to take to a Mexican themed evening. Do you want to know how I made them? Read on...

Churros

50g Melted butter

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

350ml Boiling water

250g Plain flour

1tsp Baking powder

1 litre Sunflower oil

Caster sugar to cover a baking tray and a large bar of chocolate, melted, to serve.

1. Melt the butter in the microwave and add the vanilla extract

2. Add the melted butter to the boiling water, and watch science happen (the butter isn't as dense as the water so it floats on top!)

3. Put the flour in a bowl, and make a well in the middle where you can pour your butter and water.

4. Mix, then leave to cool for 10-15 minutes

5. Put the dough in a piping bag with a star shaped nozzle on. The dough is a strange consistency, unlike any dough I've worked with before - very runny. Fill a deep saucepan 1/3 full with oil and heat to the point where a chunk of bread browns in around 1 minute. Pipe the dough directly into the oil, making the churros as long or as short as you like. Cut the dough when you reach the desired size. You can fit two, maybe three in a pan, but no more or they all clump together and it's very sad.

6. Once they're nice and crispy, pull out of the oil with a slotted spoon and roll in caster sugar. Serve still warm with a pot of melted chocolate to dip them in, and enjoy!