Crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, these tasty churros pure comfort and just what you need on a cold winter day! The best part? It’s made with Selati Sugar, of course! 

Delicious churros with Selati Sugar 

Ingredients 

For the choux pastry 

1 cup water 
2 Tbsp Selati Pure White Sugar
120g butter 
125g flour 
3 eggs 
Oil, for deep-frying 

For the cinnamon sugar  

200g Selati Golden Brown Sugar 
¼ tsp cinnamon  

Method 

1. Place water, sugar and butter in a small pot over high heat, stir to melt the butter. As soon as the mixture comes to a rolling simmer, remove from the heat.  
2. Add the flour and use a wooden spoon to stir thoroughly until no lumps of flour remain and the mixture is smooth. 
3. Place the pot back onto the heat and cook, stirring, for a minute. The mixture should come away from the sides of the pot to show it is ready.  
4. Place the mixture into a stainless-steel mixing bowl and spread up against the sides of the bowl to help cool it down.  
5. Once cool, add the eggs one at a time, thoroughly whisking between each until fully incorporated before adding the next.  
6. Fit a piping bag with a star nozzle. Use a pair of scissors to snip off the end of the plastic bag, allowing it to open. The end of the plastic should be halfway up the nozzle to allow for the pastry to be pushed out cleanly.  
7. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and twist closed.  
8. To make the unique churro hearts, cut out 12-15 squares of baking paper.  
9. Carefully pipe one heart onto each piece of baking paper. 
10. Heat oil for deep-frying.  
11. Combine cinnamon sugar ingredients in a large, shallow bowl.  
12. To fry the churro hearts, hold the baking paper upside down close to the oil and use a spatula to ease the pastry off into it (hold it close to it doesn’t splatter).  
13. To make classic churros, simply squeeze pastry from the piping bag until your desired length, then snip it off using a pair of oiled scissors (this prevents the dough from sticking).  
14. Fry churros for 3-4 minutes until golden, turning frequently to fry evenly.  
15. Remove churros from the oil using a slotted spoon, immediately toss in cinnamon sugar, then and place on a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining pastry. 

The post Delicious churros with Selati Sugar  appeared first on MyKitchen.

You’re guaranteed to be the host with the most after debuting this all-out dessert. 

Pastry perfection 

Choux pastry (pronounced like “shoe”) is a magical thing. The unique ratio of five ingredients that everyone has at home allows the pastry to steam in the oven and magically rise to create feather-light buns that are hollow in the centre. The centres are then filled with anything from custard and ganache to chocolate mousse. 

Crispy crust  

Choux buns can be made and stored in a sealed container for up to three days in advance, but keep in mind that over time they become soft. To crisp them up before assembling, simply pop them into the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes. 

1.

Boil butter, water and salt

2.

Add flour to create a choux

3.

Add eggs to create the dough or pastry

Perfect choux pastry 

A pastry that can be dressed up or down to fit into any event. Stack them to create a tower or simply serve as single bite-size buns. A piping bag with a large round nozzle will come in handy. 

Makes 20-30 buns

Ingredients 

¼ cup + 1 Tbsp (75g) butter 
¾ cup (180ml) warm water 
Pinch of fine salt 
2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp (110g) flour 
4 large eggs 

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease two baking trays. 
2. Add butter, water and salt into a pot and bring to a boil. (Cover with a lid to avoid evaporation.) 
3. Once bubbling, add flour all at once and stir vigorously until a smooth and lump-free ball forms that pulls away from the side of the pot. 
4. Place pastry in a glass bowl and flatten against the base and sides for quick and easy cooling. (Cooling is essential to avoid eggs cooking once they touch the pastry.) 
5. Once cool to the touch, add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated before adding the next. 
6. After adding the last egg, your pastry should be smooth and shiny, and fall in a consistent, thickened stream when you lift your spoon. 
7. Snip the corner off a disposable piping bag and fit with your nozzle. Place nozzle folded upward in a tall glass to avoid the filling pouring out, and wrap the opening of the bag around the rim of the glass. 
8. Fill bag ¾ full of pastry, pick up the bag and twist tightly to close.
9. Pipe 3cm rounds of pastry onto the trays, keeping them 4cm apart. 
10. With a wet teaspoon or finger, flatten any pointy tops on pastry, then splash specks of water over trays and onto buns. (Splashing lightly with water ensures a crispy top. This is because the water turns into steam in the oven.) 
11. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate trays 180 degrees and reduce heat to 180°C. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until pastry is puffed and is golden. 
12. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack. 
13. Store cooled pastries in an airtight container until ready to fill and serve.

Remember: once the filling is added, the pastry will start to soften, so make sure to add your filling just before serving if possible. 

The all-important filling 

For the topping, melted dark chocolate is an absolute winner, but you can also have fun with white or milk chocolate, icing glaze (icing sugar and hot water with food colouring) and decorate with chopped nuts, edible flowers or caramel. 

Crème pâtissière  

Makes 3 cups 

This classic yet versatile dessert is the perfect way to add some creamy flavour to your choux pastry. 

Ingredients 

½ cup (100g) granulated sugar 
¼ cup (30g) corn flour 
½ tsp (3ml) fine salt 
4 egg yolks 
2 cups (500ml) milk 
2 tsp (10ml) vanilla essence 
1 Tbsp (15g) butter  

Method 

1. Whisk together sugar, corn flour, salt and egg yolks until smooth and light. Set aside. 
2. Add milk, vanilla and butter to a small pot, heat until steaming hot.
3. Add hot milk in a thin, steady stream while whisking in the egg mixture. (This slow addition of a hot ingredient is called tempering and prevents the yolks from cooking.) 
4. Return milk and egg mixture to the pot over medium-high heat. Cook while continuously whisking until thickened, about 10-15 minutes. 
5. For the smoothest custard, pass mixture through a fine mesh sieve. 
6. Spoon into a bowl, cover with clingwrap directly on the surface and cool completely. Refrigerate for at least two hours. 
7. Prick the base of pastry buns and use a piping bag to fill your pastry with the cooled custard, or slice in half and dollop into the cavity, sandwich closed and dip tops in melted chocolate.

Flavour bending  

Custard, or as the French say Crème Pâtissière, can be infused with many different flavours. Try these combos:  

– For a chocolate custard, add 2 Tbsp cocoa to the egg yolk mixture, and stir through 80g chopped dark chocolate to the finished thickened custard. 
– For a coffee flavour, add 5 Tbsp instant coffee to the milk. 
– For a fragrant spiced custard, heat the milk with 1 star anise and 1 cinnamon stick – strain these out before adding to the egg mixture. 
– If you’re looking for a fresher filling, whip cream with sugar to taste, slice choux buns in half and dollop into the cavity. 
– For a zesty tang, swirl berry compote or heated jam through your custard before filling. 

Words by: Sjaan Van Der Ploeg 
Photographs: Zhann Solomons 

The post The guide to perfect (and delicious) eclairs appeared first on MyKitchen.

We’ve put together 4 nostalgic dessert recipes, chocolate-chip cookies, bread pudding eclairs and chocolate pudding to make you feel right at home.

Chocolate-chip cookies
MAKES  20  •  TOTAL TIME  3 hr

INGREDIENTS

Butter 170 g

Brown sugar 2 cups

Eggs 2

Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Flour 2 cups

Baking soda 1 tsp

Dark chocolate, roughly chopped 150 g

Sea salt 2 tsp

70% dark chocolate, optional 100 g

METHOD

1. Add the butter to a pan over medium heat. Once melted, it will begin to foam and bubble. Stir for a few minutes. Remove from the heat once it has turned a deep golden colour. Place in a large heatproof bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

2. Add the sugar to the butter and whisk to combine. Add the  the eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the vanilla.

3. Sift together the flour and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and fold through until combined. Add the chocolate.
If you aren’t using extra chocolate, keep a few pieces behind.

4. Mix in the chocolate to disperse it well; do not over-mix. Place the dough in the fridge for 1 hour, or overnight. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line two trays with baking paper.

5. Scoop 2 tbsp sized amounts (35 g) of dough out and roll into one ball. Repeat with remaining dough to create 15–20 biscuits. If you are using more dark chocolate, roughly chop up your slab and place pieces onto your dough balls. This will create delicious pools of chocolate on top of the biscuits.

6. Place dough balls in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.

7. Bake cookies for 10–12 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and bang the tray on the counter to deflate the cookies, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and enjoy. 

Pear bread pudding with ice cream and caramel sauce
SERVES  6  •  TOTAL TIME  1 hr 15 min

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE SALTED CARAMEL

Water ½ cup

Sugar 1 ¼ cups

Heavy cream 1 cup

Sea salt ½ tsp

FOR THE BREAD PUDDING

Milk 3 cups

Sugar ¼ cup

Butter 3 tbsp

Cinnamon ½ tsp

Salt ¼ tsp

Eggs 4

Baguette loaves, thickly sliced 2

Pears, thinly sliced 3 

Melted butter, to brush 3 tbsp 

TO SERVE

Vanilla ice cream

METHOD

FOR THE SALTED CARAMEL

1. Add the water and sugar to a medium-sized pot over low heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the sugar has completely dissolved and there are no remaining granules in the water. 

2. Stop stirring completely. Turn the heat up to high and let the mixture come to a boil.

3. Let it bubble for 5–7 minutes; it will begin to start turning an amber colour. Once the mixture is an even golden colour, add the cream and begin to stir vigorously. The mixture will bubble up. Stir until the bubbles disappear.

4. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and pour your caramel into a heat-safe jar. Leave the jar open for the caramel to cool.

FOR THE BREAD PUDDING

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a 25 cm round baking dish.

2. Place the milk and sugar in a pot over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat. Do not bring to the boil. Add the butter to the heated milk and stir through.

3. Add the cinnamon, salt and eggs to the milk. Stir well to combine.

4. Dip each slice of bread into the milk mixture, arrange the bread and pear slices in a circular pattern in the dish. Gently pour the milk over the bread, moving over the whole dish to soak all of it evenly.

5. Bake the bread pudding for 40 min until set but still slightly wobbly. Cover with tinfoil if it starts to brown too much.

6. Brush with the remaining butter once the pudding comes out of the oven.

7. Serve the pear bread pudding with a few scoops of ice cream and a generous drizzle of caramel sauce.

Top tip Rather safe than sorry! Caramel can be quite intimidating, if you’d rather skip this step, then feel free to use syrup, honey or store-bought caramel sauce.

Eclairs with coffee cream
SERVES 10  •  TOTAL TIME  1 hr 20 min

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CHOUX PASTRY

Flour 70 g

Butter, cubed 50 g

Water 55 g (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) 

Full-cream milk 55 g (2 tbsp + 2 tsp)

Salt ¼ tsp

Sugar 1 tsp

Large eggs, lightly beaten 2

Icing sugar 1 tbsp

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE

Dark chocolate, finely chopped 80 g

Cream  ⅓ cup

FOR THE WHIPPED COFFEE CREAM

Instant coffee 1 ½ tsp

Whipping cream 1 ½ cups

Icing sugar 3 tbsp

TO DECORATE

Chocolate sprinkles

Lavender flowers

METHOD

FOR THE CHOUX PASTRY

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Line a large oven tray with baking paper and draw ten 10 cm long lines. Flip over the paper.

2. Sift the flour into a small bowl. Place the butter, water, milk, salt and sugar in a pot and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted. Remove from the heat when the mixture just starts to boil.

3. Quickly add the flour and vigorously stir with a wooden spoon to form a paste. 

4. Return the pot over medium heat and cook the paste, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes until a film of dough clings to the base of the pot. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and set aside until cool.

5. Once cooled, add the whisked eggs to the dough a little at a time, mixing until fully incorporated between each addition with a wooden spoon. Continue adding egg until the dough is smooth and glossy but still holds its shape. You may not need to add all the egg. When dropped off a spatula, the dough should form a ‘v’ shape.

6. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe log shapes using the drawn lines as a guide. Flatten any pointed ends using a finger dipped in water, then dust the eclairs with the icing sugar.

7. Place the eclairs in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 180ºC. Bake for 30 minutes until lightly golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and prick one end of each eclair with a skewer to release any steam. Place back in the oven for 2 more minutes. Set aside to cool.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE

1. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place the cream in a small pot and heat gently until it start to bubble around the edges. Pour over the chocolate and leave for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth and glossy.

FOR THE WHIPPED COFFEE CREAM

1. Dissolve the coffee powder in a few tablespoons of cream. Place the coffee mixture, remaining cream and icing sugar in a mixing bowl and whip to stiff peaks with an electric hand mixer.

TO ASSEMBLE

1. Slice the eclairs in half using a serrated knife. Dip the top half of the eclairs into the chocolate glaze and place on a wire rack to drip. Pipe cream onto the bottom half of the eclairs. Sandwich all the eclairs together carefully. If the glaze is too thin
it will run, refrigerate for a bit longer before dipping. 

Storage tip: Assembled eclairs are best eaten straight away. Unfilled eclairs can be kept in an airtight container for a few days or frozen. Crisp them up in the oven before filling.

Self-saucing chocolate pudding
SERVES 6–8  •  TOTAL TIME  55 min

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PUDDING

Flour 2 cups

Cocoa powder ½ cup

Baking powder 1 tbsp

Salt 1 tsp

Caster sugar ½ cup

Brown sugar ½ cup

Eggs 2

Milk 1 cup

Butter, melted 130 g

Vanilla essence 2 tsp

Instant coffee powder 1 tsp

FOR THE SAUCE

Brown sugar 1 cup

Cocoa powder 6 tbsp

Boiling water 2 cups

Double-thick cream

METHOD

FOR THE PUDDING

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Grease a 30 × 20 cm baking dish.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugar.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, butter, vanilla and coffee powder until well combined.

4. Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix until combined. Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. 

FOR THE SAUCE

1. Whisk together the brown sugar and cocoa in a heatproof bowl or jug. Add the boiling water and mix until the sugar has mostly dissolved.

2. Gently pour the sauce onto the pudding over the back of the spoon.

3. Bake the pudding for 40–45 minutes or the top is firm and the pudding is bubbling around the edges. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before tucking in. Serve with scoops of ice cream, if desired.

Recipes & styling: Sjaan van der Ploeg:
Stylist assistants: Kirsty Buchanan & Jezza-Rae Larsen
Photography: Chanelle Naudt/hmimages.co.za

This Lemon milk tart meringue pie with lemon curd drizzle is the perfect combination of two desserts and a fab twist on a local South African dessert!

The post Delicious Nostalgic Dessert Recipes appeared first on MyKitchen.