Mexican Lager Spiked Churros

Kicking off this week with Watermark Bodega Mexican-style Lager Spiked Churros with Spicy Chocolate Sauce. But first…

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

So the Mexican food continues this week and I am ending on this incredible Watermark Brewing Bodega Mexican-style Lager spiked churros. Such a new and interesting twist on the classic but always amazing churro. Fried to perfection so with every bite you get the perfect crunch of crispy dough, covered in cinnamon sugar and dipped in sweet but spicy ancho chili Chocolate dipping sauce. I wish I could make these everyday for the rest of my life.

I’m sure many of you know by now but in case you don’t, I am married to a brewery owner in Michigan. Our area is a huge vacation town and the population nearly doubles in the summers. He is one of three owners of Watermark and handles most of the marketing and behind the scenes kind of stuff. Then you have Justin who is all things handy and front of house. He handles a lot of the building aspects both before and after construction. We refer to him as the jack-of-all-trades and right now he is the person handling the building of their second venture which is a wedding venue. Finally, there is Dave, the chemist of the three who does all things beer. He is our brewer and the creative genius behind all of the recipes. Recently he crafted up this amazing Mexican-style Lager called Bodega and its incredible. I was so excited about it, I knew I had to use it in one of my posts this week. Especially since it is Cinco de Mayo, I couldn’t have picked a better time.

A lot of people when the first see my blog or they find out about all the food I make ask one of two questions. The first is “how are you not 500 lbs.” to which I always respond “I’m working on it” and the second question people always want to know about is what happens to all the food I make. After all, it’s just Chris and I right now, so with all the food I make, it is a lot more than we can sometimes handle. That is when I call in the brewery boys for help. Besides the three owners, there are about 3-6 extra people around the Watermark compound at all times, therefore I just bring all the good to the taproom or the warehouse and there is never an issue with the food being eaten. In fact, I look forward to Tuesday mornings lately because I try and have some sort of breakfast pastry made then. Since the boys all meet on Tuesdays for their weekly meeting that day. I usually bring over some sort of breakfast treat. This week I’m thinking some cinnamon rolls.

If you are now wondering why I wouldn’t bring these churros to their 8am meeting today, that is because I try to make everything in advance before I post. So these churros have already been consumed. They were actually completely gone only 5 minutes after capturing all of these photos. So if you are wondering how good these churros actually are, I would say they are impossible to only have one bite. Make them, they are so so so worth it…

I always get a little intimidated making anything fried in oil. I have read so many times that deep frying anything is considered a really easy task, yet things like croissants are considered a more advanced bake. I would honestly argue the opposite. Croissants, while they take a lot of time are a pretty straightforward recipe. However, deep frying something you have to be on your game. Ready to check the temperature of the oil, drop in the churros, prep the next batch, stir the contents frying, moderate the temperature of the stovetop. It’s just a lot and to top it all off, to get a uniform golden brown finish on all of the churros is a bit tough. Depending on the oil temperature as it varies so quickly, determines how brown they will get while you fry them.

I would say when tackling deep frying, there are a few things I would say help in the process:

• Heat the oil slowly, instead of turning the stove all the way up to get the oil to the temperature you want quicker. You need to take this part slowly. Before getting the dough ready I would even suggest starting to heat the oil. For me this takes about 15-20 minutes to get the oil to where I need it, so allowing yourself to have more time will help. I’ve forgotten so many times and then right when I have the dough ready I realize I have to wait for the oil to heat, and then am always surprised at how slow it heats. Plus, I’ve tried heating it too quickly before and have had it bubble and pop in a way that splashes me. It’s not a pretty picture. So Take your time.
• Don’t overcrowd the pan with as many churros as you can fit in one batch. This will drop the temperature of the oil drastically in one second since the dough is colder than the oil. Instead, just do 2-3 churros at a time. This will also allow them to have enough room that they evenly cook and don’t stick to each other.
• Wait a few minutes in between each batch, so that the temperature gets back to the correct frying temp. You will notice after each batch cooks, the temperature will drop a bit and that is normal. So try to keep the temperature to 350-375 as much as possible. This will make sure that you get the crispy outside but still have a fluffy, completely cooked inside.
• Use a pot or pan with high sides. Even though you only need about 3 inches of oil in the pan, you still want to make sure there is enough room from the top of the oil to the top of the pan. Oil can and will bubble intensely when you first drop in the dough, this is because of the temperature difference. There have been a few times where it has been a close call for myself because I think i’ve left enough room, then the oil boils so high that I get nervous it will boil over and hit the flame on my stove. That would not be a pretty picture. So just be safe!

To make the batter for churros, you will want to use a few key ingredients and to give a background to why they are important:

• Vegetable oil or any neutral oil for frying. Its important to use a neutral oil so that when you fry them, they don’t take on the flavor of the oil but instead have the flavor of the dough.
• Beer. I’ve replaced the water content that a classic churro recipe has and replaced with the same amount of beer. Beer acts as a leavening agent in this recipe. Which is why these churros turn out so light, fluffy and the texture is really melt in your mouth good. If you are not a beer person, you can just use water and still get the same results, but the flavor may change a bit.
• Butter. Yes, the best yet worst thing about this recipe is that it starts with a bit of butter. The fats are what makes the dough so flaky when it fries. Trust me, the better the butter, the better these turn out.
• Sugar
• Salt
• Vanilla
• Flour
• Egg

The rest of the ingredients portions are important. When you start the recipe, it is important to get a consistency that will stick to the sides of your pan. This then will get you the mashed potato like consistency that is helpful in piping and staying together once the dough hits the frying oil. This is also an important step I should mention. I know sometimes when recipes mention to boil a mixture then turn the heat down to a simmer it’s hard to actually meet the boil part before you simmer. Make sure to really get your beer, butter, sugar and salt mixture to a boil before reducing the heat to low. This will get the temperature just right before finishing off the dough.

The dough then will start to form into a ball. However, you will notice that the sides of the pan are going to still have a small thin layer of dough sticking to it and that is perfect! It is supposed to do this. That is when you know your dough is perfect and ready to fry!

If you are needing a few other recipe ideas to celebrate Cinco de Mayo check out my other recipes for:

• Salted Watermelon Lime Mint Margaritas
• Holy Pineapple Guacamole
• Steak Fajita Bar