CHURROS + DULCE DE LECHE

 

i have finally made churros!!!! & then proceeded to eat way too many of them as they came out of the fryer. why was i crazy enough to deep fry in the summer, when it is 100 degrees outside & my apartment is pushing 80 degrees? because, churros. as i previously mentioned, my past weekend was filled with mexican food. my usual weekend burrito (ok burrito...s), plus my sister and i celebrated her birthday over tacos & guacamole in the distillery district. with such an overload of mexican food, this weekend was missing one of my favourite dessert. when i woke up sunday morning, temperature aside, i knew it was a churro making kind of day. also, this is the easiest dolce de leche ever. i saw it a long time ago on food network and have never purchased a store bought version since. now open those windows, bust a sweat, put on your sombrero, cause it’s time to fry up some churros!

ingredients

for the churros

  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
  • vegetable oil, for deep frying

for the dolce de leche

  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk

directions

  • begin by making your dolce de leche: in a large enough pot to submerge the unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in, fill with water and bring to a boil. boil for 3-4 hours making sure the can is constantly emerged in water. remove from heat and let cool before opening.
  • for the churros: in a sauce pan on low heat add butter and water until butter is fully melted & incorporated.
  • stir in vanilla, flour, sugar and salt. mix until a wet dough has formed. let cool to room temperature.
  • once your mixture has cooled, beat in eggs until smooth.
  • place mixture into a large piping bag with desired tip and refrigerate while the oil heats up.
  • in a large bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon to dip freshly fried churros in.
  • in a frying pan heat two inches of oil between 350-375 degrees.
  • once oil is heated, pipe churros to desired length and fry for 2-3 minutes, rotating them halfway.
  • remove from fryer, let excess oil drain on paper towel then dip in your cinnamon sugar mixture while the churro is still hot.
  • repeat until you are out of dough.
  • serve with your dolce de leche, warm or cool!

like what you see? get it here. plate | bowl | cocottes | flour scoop | measuring spoon | wood knife | linen

RAW SUGAR PEACH GALETTE

 

this year i am taking full advantage of ontario’s peach season. last year… not so much. i happened to be visiting home in niagara the same weekend peach festival was taking place in niagara-on-the-lake. knowing my love for peaches & pie, my mom suggested we go. we got there early afternoon and immediately got in line to get our self a pie. shortly after, we heard through the grape vine that the last pie was just purchased. WHAT! so disappointing. pretty much all that was left at peach festival was burgers, fries & live music. so this year instead of risking going, only to see the customer ahead of me swipe the last pie (the peach pie equivalence to the Seinfeld chocolate babka episode), i decided to take matters into my own hands! i started off by making these peach cobblers last week & today i bring to you a raw sugar peach galette! of course if you wish this can be made into a pie, but i love the rustic feel of an imperfect galette. also, i finally did a pie crust made of half butter + half shortening & i am NEVER going back. um, why didn’t i do this sooner?! thank you ina garten aka barefoot contessa for the perfect crust recipe.

ingredients

for the crust (adpated from the barefoot contessa)

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cold
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3-4 tablespoons ice cold water (more or less as needed)

for the filling

  • 1 1/2 pounds ripe peaches (about 5 large, 7 small)
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

directions

  • begin by making the dough: using a food processor pulse the flour, salt and sugar a few times.
  • add the cubed butter, shortening and vanilla, pulse until a crumb like mixture forms.
  • add the cold water one tablespoon at a time until the crumbs begin to come together. turn out onto a pastry board and shape dough into a disk using your hands. if you added too much water, add a bit more flour. if the dough seems a bit dry, add a bit more water.
  • wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or for best results overnight.
  • for the filling mix peaches, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and corstarch in a bowl. toss until evenly coated and combined.
  • once you are ready to assemble, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  • roll out your dough on parchment paper and add peach filling, leaving a little over a 1-inch border around the edges.
  • fold the edges of the crust over the peaches and brush with egg wash if desired. sprinkle dough with raw sugar and bake for 30 minutes.
  • serve hot or cold! enjoy!

like what you see? get it here. pie server | wood knife | plates | linen | cutting board | cake stand

NO CHURN ICE CREAM

 

over the past several months i kept coming across people posting about “no churn ice cream”. frankly, i didn’t buy it. it just seemed WAY to simple a process to have the same texture & taste as ice cream. so the only way to find out was to make it myself. seeing i am now blogging about it, you can guess the results were pretty positive. essentially, two basic ingredients (sweetened condensed milk + heavy cream) freeze into a perfectly creamy ice cream, without any fancy ( and expensive) ice cream machine. you can keep it as a simple vanilla ice cream or you can stir in anything you can possibly think of. here i did raspberries but some other options could be peaches, strawberries, jam, chocolate sauce, caramel, crushed oreo’s OR COOKIE BUTTER!!! okay, i have yet to actually try it with cookie butter because the jar does not last long enough in my pantry to do anything other then eat it with a spoon.

ingredients

  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 500 ml heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • optional: 1 cup of fruit (crushed) or sauce

directions

  • in a large bowl whip heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks.
  • fold in the vanilla & condensed milk until it is well combined, trying not to deflate the whip cream too much.
  • stir in desired fruit or sauce and pour into a freezer safe loaf/baking pan.
  • freeze over night and voila! you have yourself the worlds easiest ice cream.

like what you see? get in here. mug/cup | boyfriend (n/a)