Chocolate churros with chocolate & salted caramel sauce

Ingredients

• For frying Sunflower Oil
• To serve Ice Cream
• 120g Muscovado Sugar
• 60g Butter
• 250ml Double Cream
• 100g Dark Chocolate
• 100g Golden Caster Sugar
• 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 200g Plain Flour
• 50g Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 50g Melted Butter

Instructions

1. To make the sauce, place the sugar and butter in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the cream and simmer for 2–3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat, add a pinch of sea salt and the dark chocolate, and stir until completely melted. Keep warm or set aside to reheat later.
2. For the coating, mix the sugar with the cinnamon and a small pinch of fine sea salt in a bowl and set aside.
3. To make the churros batter, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and a generous pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the vanilla extract and melted butter, then gradually pour in 250–300 ml boiling water, whisking continuously, until you have a very thick, smooth batter. Leave to cool briefly, then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium star nozzle.
4. Pour the sunflower oil into a deep fryer or heavy-based pan, filling it no more than one third full. Heat to 170°C, or until a cube of bread browns in about 30 seconds.
5. Pipe 12–15 cm lengths of dough into the hot oil, cutting them off with scissors. Fry 4–5 at a time for about 4 minutes, turning as needed, until golden and crisp. Remove and drain on a rack or kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining batter.
6. Roll the hot churros in the cinnamon sugar and serve immediately with the warm chocolate and salted caramel sauce and ice cream. If reheating, bake the churros on a tray for 5–8 minutes, then coat in the sugar mixture. Reheat the sauce separately and serve for dipping.

instructions_source: editorial-classic