June 6 is National Churro Day. I don’t know about you, but few things make me more excited in life than sweet, sugar and cinnamon-coated fried dough I get to dip in hot chocolate. The fact that there is a day where we can all come together and celebrate this delicious dish means that we’re pretty much living our best lives, am I right?
Here in Asheville, the family-owned Cuban restaurant Hemingway’s Cuba (inside the Cambria hotel) makes traditional churros as a feature on their dessert menu. Pastry Chef Fanny Hicks makes all the pastries for Hemingway’s Cuba and Isa’s Bistro (she recently won/tied for third place in the Asheville Pie Fight with her Strawberry, Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie) – and she’s sharing her churros recipe with you, our lovely readers, just in time for you to make them at home + celebrate tomorrow.
So here’s a history of this perfectly sweet treat, our readers’ recommendations for where to find them in Asheville, plus the recipe from Hemingway’s Cuba. Your Hump Day just got a whole lot better.
What’s a churro, anyway?
A churro is a deep-fried stick of dough, about the size of a breadstick, sprinkled with sugar (and possibly cinnamon and other spices) and dipped into chocolate – usually either a thicker chocolate sauce or a drinking chocolate. DYK: The dough used for churros is usually a choux – a mixture of flour, water, butter, salt + eggs that’s also the base for eclairs + cream puffs. Latin American churros sometimes have fillings – like guava + sweet cheese – inside.
Churros are traditionally eaten for breakfast, but they’re served throughout the day as street snacks wrapped in paper and served with a cup of chocolate. They’re sold at churrerias, which are shops specifically for churros. Yes, dreams do come true.
No one is totally sure where the churro originated, but legend has it that Portuguese explorers created the first ones after trying pastries in China. From there, churros spread to Spain – and then to Mexico and South America, where they picked up the chocolate + sugar to create the now-classic combination.
Bonus: The name comes from “churra,” a type of Iberian sheep, because the portable snacks were often eaten by shepherds.
Hemingway’s Cuba Churro Recipe | June 2019
Ingredients:
1 Cup Water
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
¾ Teaspoon Salt
4 Oz (1 Cube) Butter
½ Teaspoon Vanilla
1¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
3 Eggs-Whisked Gently
Directions:
- Combine water, brown sugar, salt, butter, and vanilla in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and add flour all at once, cook while stirring vigorously with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until it looks like mashed potatoes and has no dry lumps of flour.
- Place in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low for a minute or so until no longer steaming. Slowly add egg mixture while mixer is running on low, allowing each addition to incorporate before adding the next, beat on low until smooth. (The dough can also be mixed by hand with a wooden spoon)
- Fit a large star tip into a piping bag and fill with churro batter. If it is still too warm the batter will be soft and difficult to pipe, simple allow to rest until it has cooled slightly.
- Fry in deep fryer or large pot in vegetable oil or other mild flavored oil heated to 365°. Churros can be piped directly into fryer oil, use a small knife or clean scissors to cut the ends of the churros.
- Fry until well browned and puffed, flipping occasionally. Fry only a few at a time to help keep the temperature of the oil consistent. Remove from oil and drain onto wire racks or paper towels. Toss in cinnamon sugar and eat while warm.
Pro tip from Pastry Chef Fanny Hicks: “Churros can also be piped into silicon mats and frozen. This is a great way to control the shape or your churros, making them round like doughnuts, straight sticks, or fanciful curlicues. Frozen churros do not need to be defrosted before frying, however keep in mind they will lower the temperature of the oil more quickly if too many are fried at once. A low oil temperature will result in soggy churros.” And nobody likes a soggy churro.
If you’re not up for making your own, see when you can get them at Hemingway’s Cuba.
Churrific local spots
We asked you where else you go to get your churro fix. Here’s what you said:
En La Calle | 15 Eagle St. | Latin American tapas and street-style snacks + sips.
“En La Calle 👌 SOO good!” – Colleen O.
Limones | 13 Eagle St. | Creative Mexican fare.
“Limones offers them for Sunday brunch (with hot chocolate!)” – Jean S.
Mamacita’s Taqueria | 77A Biltmore Ave. | Beloved local taco joint.
Papa’s and Beer | various locations | Classic, casual Mexican fare.
Smiley’s Flea Market | 5360 Hendersonville Rd., Fletcher | Street food vendors are tucked between shopping stalls at the long-running flea market.
“Smiley’s Flea Market! The churros and tacos are the best part. 🤩” – Joanna P.
Tienda Los Nenes | 1341 Parkwood Rd., Ste. 110 | Grocery store, carniceria (butcher shop) + bakery.
Happy celebrating, Asheville. Ⓟ
