Churros con chocolate

Step 1: Make the chocolate first. Whisk 2 tsp cornflour into 4 tablespoons of 3 ½ tbsp whole milk until smooth. Heat the rest of 2 cups whole milk in a pan over a medium heat until steaming.

Step 2: Add 4 oz dark chocolate (60–70%), 2 tbsp sugar and 1 pinch salt and whisk until melted. Whisk in the cornflour mixture and simmer gently for 3–4 minutes, whisking all the time, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon thickly. Keep warm over a very low heat.

Step 3: Make the dough. Bring 1 cup water, ½ tsp salt and 1 tbsp sunflower oil to a rolling boil in a pan. Take it off the heat, tip in 5 ½ oz plain flour all at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon for 1 minute, until you have a smooth, stiff dough with no dry patches.

Step 4: Leave the dough to cool for 5 minutes, then spoon it into a sturdy piping bag (or a churrera) fitted with a 1 cm open star nozzle. The dough is stiff; a cloth bag or a double plastic one is best.

Step 5: Heat 4 ¼ cups sunflower or olive oil in a deep, wide pan to 375°F (a cube of bread browns in 20 seconds). Mix 3 tbsp caster sugar and ½ tsp ground cinnamon on a plate.

Step 6: Pipe 12 cm lengths of dough straight into the oil, snipping them off with scissors, 3 or 4 at a time. Fry for 2–3 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and crisp all over. If the oil isn't hot enough they'll be greasy; too hot and they'll be raw in the middle.

Step 7: Drain on kitchen paper for a few seconds, then roll in the sugar while hot.

Step 8: Pour the hot chocolate into cups and serve with the churros straight away for dunking.