When you think of churros, you think of crispy, sugary goodness. Churros are those amazing deep-fried doughs that you usually get with rigid structures and sugar coating on top. It’s delicious and has been a world delicacy! Even Disneyland has made it one of the staple snacks to have.

The Origins of Churros

Even though churros have become a Spanish delicacy as we all might know it, funnily enough, their origins may go back to China. This is only a theory, but China was known for the fried dough called: youtiao or many of us in Indonesia may refer to it as cakwe, which resembles similarities to the churros. However, throughout history, the pastry has been modified to its true form today.

Modern Churros

Back in the day, churros were made with just two ingredients; flour and water. But now, it is usually made from flour, water, butter, sugar, salt and eggs. They are also typically shaped like a long strand or in some cases curled or twisted. Churros are also sprinkled in some sugar coating but most notably a cinnamon-sugar coating. It is then comes with delicious sauces, mainly chocolate or caramel sauce.

Churros are consumed as a snack on-the-go, street snack or just a light treat for you to enjoy any time of the day. Some places now specialise in churros and even have a variety of menus, including making it as a full dessert with ice-cream or whipped cream.

Pandan & Ube Churros

Churros are in their original true form but it’s always better to experiment. Flavours like pandan and ube are great when it comes to infusing East-Asian cultures into modern cuisines.

Pandan is one of the most popular ingredients to use in Southeast Asia countries because of the sweetness and aromatics it gives. Ube is a less popular ingredient but one might argue that now it’s becoming one of those staple East-Asian flavours to use. Ube originates from the Philippines and it’s basically the flavour of purple yam. How does it taste? Well, it’s sweet, earthy and has a slight nutty flavour. These flavours are a great way to introduce East-Asian flavours to people who are still new to them.

The Best Flavoured Churros

In this recipe, I will show you how to make not one, but two flavours of churros: pandan and ube. Along with it, I will also add a sugar coating that has coconut flakes and one of the best sauces to go along with it! The sauce that I’ll show you how to make is not just a regular caramel sauce but a palm sugar caramel made with coconut cream. It compliments so well to the flavours of the pandan and ube churros because of its hints of smoky overtones.

The shape of the churros are still the same by using the star tip. The reason for the star tip is because it helps the churros not to explode from the built-up steam inside the churros when frying them. Moreover, having these ridges helps increase the surface area which adds more space for the steam to escape.

These panda and ube churros are a great twist on the classic churros that you usually get, and I can’t wait for you to try them yourselves at home!

Some Tips That Might be Useful:

• You need to have a star piping tip.
• You can shape them however you want but I would like to go with bite-sized long churros. (long, twisted, or knotted)
• Frying at the right temperature helps the churros fry more evenly throughout and gives the perfect texture.
• You can use granulated palm sugar in exchange for the block of palm sugar that I used. Any type of palm sugar is fine as long as you use palm sugar for the sauce.