CHRISTMAS CINNAMON CHURROS

Makes 10-12 For the churros, you will need: 250ml water 3 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter, melted 130g flour, sieved Sunflower oil for deep frying 100g caster sugar 3 teaspoons cinnamon 1 To prepare the churros, put the water, the sugar, the salt and the melted butter in a pot. Bring to the boil, then remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the sieved flour to form a smooth ball of dough. While the dough is cooling, prepare a piping bag with a closed star nozzle (about 2cm in diameter), then fill the bag with the warm dough. 2 Fill a small saucepan with the sunflower oil and heat it over a medium heat. To check if the oil is hot enough, drop in a small bit of batter — if it sizzles and immediately rises to the top, then the oil is ready. 3 There are two ways to add the churros to the pan of oil. You can: Pipe the batter directly into the oil in batches of three finger-sized pieces, using a scissors to snip the batter at the nozzle as you pipe each one. Alternatively: you can pipe the churros onto a lined baking tray and then gently lower each churro into the oil with a plastic spatula. Fry the churros until they are golden, turning them halfway through, then carefully remove them and drain them on kitchen paper. See Note, below. 4 Mix the caster sugar with the cinnamon, then toss the cooked churros in the cinnamon-sugar coating to serve.

Note:

These churros can be made the night before — cook as above, and arrange them on a lined oven tray. Store them overnight at room temperature. Reheat them in the oven at 200°C, 400°F, Gas 6 for about five minutes or until they are hot and crispy. Toss the hot churros in the cinnamon-sugar before serving.