Fried Choux Pastry Ruffles with Lime & Allspice Sugar

When this staple French pastry dough is fried in oil, it quickly resembles the hot sugary confections one might enjoy out of a paper cone at a county fair or on a street corner in Spain.

Choux pastry is a delicate, high-moisture dough common in French pastry. If you’ve ever enjoyed a cream puff or éclair, you’ve enjoyed choux. My favorite way to eat it is fried in hot oil and rolled in sugar, where it develops an ultra-crisp, golden brown exterior with an incredibly fluffy & delicate center. If these look familiar, that’s because they’re essentially churros (Chouxros? Has anyone done that before? Let me know.). You could also call them pâte à choux beignets or crullers. A churro by any other name would taste as sweet.