Grey Ghost Detroit pastry chef Wendy Watson aims to surprise guest's taste buds with sweet churros paired with tangy tropical notes and winter citrus in her recipe for Churros with Guava, Pineapple, and Boba. Starting with a simple Pâte à Choux recipe, Chef Watson pipes the dough into a spiral shape and allows it to rest in a cooler before frying. Next, she adds rosemary-infused sugar and tops it with a scoop of guava ice cream, boba tapioca pearls, orange segments, pineapple gastrique, and fresh, chopped rosemary.
Churros
Ingredients
- 1419g Water
- 240g Sugar
- 12g Salt (kosher)
- 156g Butter
- 960g All-purpose flour
- 12g Baking powder
- 6ea Egg
Directions
- In a heavy bottomed pot bring the water, sugar, salt, and butter to a boil.
- Add flour and baking powder and stir with a large spoon until all flour is incorporated and dough forms a ball.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and mix on low speed with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes to allow dough to cool.
- Add eggs one at a time.
- Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large star piping tip.
Pineapple Gastrique
Ingredients
- 1,000g Pineapple puree
- 50g Sugar
- 45g White wine
- 55g White wine vinegar
Directions
Boil all ingredients together until a thick nape is reached. Allow to cool completely.
Guava Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2250g Milk
- 450g Heavy cream
- 1000g Guava puree
- 450g Sugar
- 75g Glucose syrup
- 225g Sugar
- 255g Yolk
Directions
- Bring the milk, heavy cream, the 450g of sugar, guava puree, and glucose syrup to a scald.
- Combine the 255g of sugar and yolk together with a whisk and temper the hot liquid in with the yolks.
- With a rubber spatula stir the entire mixture over a medium-low heat until it reaches 178*F.
- Allow to cool completely before spinning in an ice cream spinner.
Rosemary Sugar
Ingredients
- 6 cleaned or 4 whole rosemary stems
- 4 C sugar
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a container and allow to sit for at least 24 hours to infuse the rosemary flavor into the sugar.
- Remove the stems from the sugar and blend in a robot coup.
Tapioca (Boba) Pearls
Ingredients
- 250g Boba tapioca pearls
- 6C water
Directions
- Bring water to a solid boil.
- Add tapioca pearls and cover for 3 minutes.
- Uncover and cook for 3 ½ more minutes.
- Strain and run cool water over the pearls for 1 minute.
- Store in water for service.
- Guava Dessert Components
- Guava ice cream (1oz portion scoop)
- 5 Orange segments
- ¼ t chopped fresh rosemary
- 1.5t prepared tapioca pearls
- 3 churro sticks
- .5-.75oz pineapple gastrique
Plate Assembly
- Pipe the churro batter into three 6” pieces and fry until golden brown on each side in a 350* fryer.
- Toss churro sticks in rosemary sugar.
- In the center of the plate make a solid circle with the pineapple gastrique - roughly a little bigger than the size of a lime.
- Scoop guava ice cream and place in the center of pineapple gastrique.
- Arrange the 3 churro sticks in a triangle around the ice cream so that each corner is overlapping the other.
- Arrange the orange segments so they surround the ice cream.
- Strain off the tapioca on your spoon and pour over the top of the ice cream, allowing the pearls to fall where they may.
- Finish with a sprinkle of fresh rosemary.
Formula courtesy of Wendy Watson, Grey Ghost Detroit