Churros with #AngryOrchard Caramel Dip

What says “FALL” better than apples? Apple cider! And what food says “Cinnamon” better than churros? uhhhhhhh… nothing!?!
At the Improv Challenge hosted by Lesa, this month it was all about apples & cinnamon. I made the decision to create gluten free churros and an apple caramel dip. Initially I planned to juice 3 varieties of apples and make caramel from that.As “fun” as that process was, the resultant caramel came out a little lumpy & too sweet, for my taste.I’d been seeing caramel recipes made from hard cider, so decided to give that a try.

WINNER!

The flavor was fabulous and I knew this caramel would be perfect with some hot churros!
I began by making the cinnamon sugar finishing “bath”.Next I prepared my eggs so they’d be ready to add to the hot pâte à choux without any stray shells problems. I’d never prepared this with a mixer before -- I’ve always beat the eggs into the cooked flour mixture in the pan by hand. (That’s the way I learned in 7^th grade Home Ec years ago…)Next, the batter was spooned into the pastry bag so it could be piped into the oil heated in the cast iron skillet.ummmmm  -- Pretty sure I need more practice; because it was quite difficult to juggle the heavy pastry bag in my right hand and the scissors to stop the flow of batter in my left. I could not pipe a straight 6-inch line to save my life!I was quite surprised at the lovely texture of the fried dough! You would never know they were gluten free except for maybe a slight discernable flavor difference. Happily the hubs, who is by no means a donut or cruller fan, proclaimed them very tasty & even had a few with his coffee the next morning.
for the caramel:

• 1 bottle (12 oz.) Angry Orchard® hard cider
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons half & half (you could use cream )
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Boil the cider to reduce to about half. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook until thickened. Control yourself while consuming!
for the churros:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup gluten-free flour blend (I used Pamela’s®)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Bring the water, butter, salt & brown sugar to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. Dump in the flour all at once and beat with spoon until well-combined & smooth. Transfer to mixer and add eggs one at a time, beating until shiny after each addition. Spoon into pastry bag fitted with large star tip. Pour about one inch deep oil in skillet, and heat to 350°. Pipe a 6-inch length of dough and fry both sides until brown. Drain excess oil and shake into cinnamon/sugar mixture. Try to let it cool before you bite into it!
So, I loved the incredible apple-flavored caramel sauce and I loved the cinnamon churros ~ however, together they were much too sweet for my taste… But, try the recipes for yourself before you make that call! You should also check out the other apple & cinnamon creations from my friends via the following links.

If you don’t mind, I would like to leave you with one last picture & ask you to pray for a sweet boy from our church. Nick is battling a nasty, terrible, ugly monster named Osteosarcoma. You can attribute this churro to my poor piping skills, but as I was emptying the last of the dough from the tip, this came out. I was touched in my heart, because I had spent the morning praying for Nick & his family.

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