Week 2: Fortune Cookies



This week's technical challenge caused a lot of frustration amongst the bakers. Today I learnt that making fortune cookies is, indeed, an exceedingly frustrating task. The fiddly, delicate and time-sensitive nature of this recipe makes it tricky to get 12 identical fortune cookies, all with that perfect shape and that satisfying 'snap'. But if you do decide to take on this recipe, rest assured, after 2 or 3 (or 5 or 10!) practice runs you'll get the hang of it.

My recipe this week is taken from the GBBO website, but I have made some changes to the measurements and the oven temperature, which made the moulding part of this recipe much easier. It makes 12 fortune cookies (if you get it right every time!) and took me 2 hours to complete.

Good luck!

The Ingredients
2 large egg whites
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp water
2 tsp cornflour
65g plain flour
100g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

150g white chocolate
100g blanched hazelnuts (crushed)






The Cookies
1) Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a baking tray with with a silicone mat. If you don't have a silicone mat, you can use baking parchment, but this will make it harder to take the cookies off the baking tray at step 5. Write your fortunes on a long strip of paper.

(TOP TIP: draw a circle, with a diameter of 10cm, onto a piece of baking parchment to make a template for your biscuits. Put this onto the baking tray, and then put the baking parchment you prepared in step one on top of this template. It's much easier to form circles when you have this guide.)



2) Whisk the 2 egg whites, 3 tbsp of vegetable oil and 2 tbsp of water together until it has just become light and frothy. If they start to form peaks, you've gone too far. This step only took me 30 seconds!


3) Shift in the 65g of flour, 2 tsp of cornflour, 100g of caster sugar and a pinch of salt into the egg whites mixture and beat until it becomes smooth. It should look like a thick pancake batter. Add the 2 tsp of  almond essence and 1 tsp of vanilla essence, and continue to beat the batter until these ingredients have been incorporated. If the batter seems to doughy add water, one tsp at a time, until it loosens up.


4) Use a measuring spoon to place 1/2 a tbsp of the batter onto each end of the silicone mat. Using the back of a metal spoon, and your template as a guide, swirl the mixture and small circular motions to form two circles. Bake for 4-6 mins until the outer edge is a light, golden brown.



(TOP TIP: keep an eye on your fortune cookies the first time you bake it. Your oven may be a little different to mine, and as the cookies are so thin, they can go from perfect golden around the edges to much too brown everywhere VERY quickly. If the middle of your cookie is too cooked, you won't be able to fold it at step 6. If your cookie is not cooked enough, it won't snap.)

5) Remove the cookies from the oven. Lift one cookie off the tray, flip it over, place a fortune in the centre, and fold it in half. Pinch the semi-circular edges together to seal.


6) Place the middle of the folded edge of the cookie over the rim of a glass, and gently pull down on the corners of the cookie. Place in a muffin tin to help it hold its shape whilst it cools. Repeat this step with the second cookie.


(TOP TIP: You need to work very quickly when carrying out steps 5 and 6, as if the cookie becomes too cool, you won't be able to mould its shape. Once you have lifted the cookie loose, keep it on the baking tray whilst moulding as this will keep it warm for longer)

7) Repeat steps 4 to 6 until you have made your 12 almond fortune cookies.

The Decorating
8) Melt 150g of white chocolate over a pan of gently simmering water.


9) Dip one half of the fortune cookie into the melted white chocolate and then sprinkle with the crushed hazelnuts.


10) Enjoy!




https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/pauls-fortune-cookies/

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