What better way to round off our Asian feast than cracking open a golden fortune cookie and finding out what your future holds!
Recipe and styling by Thulisa Martins
Photograph by Hema Patel
Adding orange blossom water to these cute cookies enhances the flavour.
How to make your own fortune cookies
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) orange blossom water
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) almond essence
- 15ml (1 tbsp) water
- 100g white sugar
- 65g cake flour, sifted
- 7,5ml (1½ tsp) cornflour
- pinch salt
- handwritten fortunes on 10cm x 2cm paper strips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Place the egg whites, vanilla extract, orange blossom water, almond essence and water in a freestanding blender and blitz until it starts to thicken, 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and blend to form a smooth batter, a further 5 minutes.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and place 10ml (2 tsp) batter on the baking paper. Spread it out to form a very thin round, about 10cm in diameter. Repeat with the remaining batter, taking care to make two at a time (see Cook’s tip). Bake in the oven until the edges are golden brown, 6 – 7 minutes.
Remove from oven and quickly place the cookies on a wooden board, using a palette knife to lift them off the baking paper. Working with one at a time, roll up a paper strip with a fortune and place it on one side of the round. Fold the round over and press the edges together while the cookie is still warm. It will crack if too cool.
Immediately place the straight folded side of the cookie over the rim of a glass or cup and bend to form a fortune-cookie shape. Hold in place for 5 seconds. Carefully place the cookie in a muffin-tin well to cool completely and hold its shape, 10 minutes.
Notes
Time is very important when making fortune cookies. If it’s your first time, rather bake two at a time to make sure you have enough time to fold them while they are still pliable, as they cool very quickly. Make sure your fortunes are written on small strips of paper prior to baking the cookies. Once you get the hang of it, they are super-easy to make and can even be dusted with edible glitter or dipped in chocolate to serve.
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
