The Guilty Pleasure: Churros Rellenos de Cajeta de Cabra Where to Get It: Barrio Cafe Price: $12 What It Really Costs: Who cares? It's delicious
Ok, Phoenix. Last week we told you about the awesome-est sounding thing ever, the Churro Ice Cream Sandwich. In case you missed it, they're really happening right now in Los Angeles, specifically at Churro Burrough, where you can fill you churro sandwich with an ice cream flavor of your own choosing.
At first we were thought, "What? I can have a horchata ice cream sandwich with deep fried cinnamon sugar dough as the bread? Amazing!"
Then we realized we didn't need to make a pilgrimage to the City of Angels because we've got the best churro-ice cream combo right here in our own city.
See also: The Churro Ice Cream Sandwich Has Just Won Summer
At Barrio Cafe, Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza serves the hands down best churro we've ever had. Well, except for maybe the ones you get at Disneyland but those just taste good because they come with a side of Disney magic. Anyway, we digress.
Esparza's beloved dessert offers not one, but two perfectly fried sticks of cinnamon sugar dough and a huge scoop vanilla bean ice cream. In short, everything that a churro ice cream sandwich would offer, except this dish is obviously not in sandwich-form.
If that's not enough to convince you, here's one thing Esparza's dish has over the new SoCal creation: Caramel. And lots of it.
Each of the two churros that come crisscrossed on the plate is filled with cajeta de carba, or goat's milk caramel. The gooey sweet filling makes the outside shell seem all the most crisp and when you dig into one your spoon slices right through the creme-filled center.
The texture of the churro is also noteworthy and entirely unlike the horrible, dry versions you find hanging under heat lamps at other restaurants. Esparza's version is perfectly light and crunchy on an exterior that gives way to soft, airy insides.
And that's still not even the best part of this dish. Our favorite part is the generous amount of additional caramel that gets spooned all over the churros, ice cream, and plate. This caramel topping is darker and richer than the goat milk caramel inside the churros and offers a rich, slightly nutty flavor that you'll want to put on everything you can get your hands on. We dipped pieces of the churro in buttery sauce, then poured it all over the ice cream. And when that ran out, we ate it straight off the spoon.
We'll admit, we wouldn't be mad if chef Silvana decided to turn this dessert into an ice cream sandwich. But then again, if ain't broke don't fix it.