| Valentine Fortune Cookies, makes 15
The key to success with these extravagantly oversize cookies is to
shape them quickly.
Nonstick cooking spray
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
1. Heat over to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet liberally with
cooking spray. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; set
aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar and
beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt and beat
until combined. Add butter, heavy cream, and almond extract and beat
until combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Pour 1 tablespoon of batter onto half of the baking sheet and spread
with the back of the spoon into a thin 5-inch circle; repeat on the
other half of the sheet. Bake until the edges turn golden brown, about
8 minutes.
4. Remove baking sheet to a heat-resistant surface. Working as quickly
as possible, slide a spatula (an offset spatula, available at specialty
kitchen shops, works best) under one of the cookies. Lift it up and
place it on a clean kitchen towel. Using your fingers, fold the cookie
in half, pinching the top together to form a loose semicircle. Hold the
cookie with your index fingers inserted at each open end and slide your
thumbs together along the bottom line. Press into the center while
bending the two open ends together and down to form the shape of a
fortune cookie. This whole process should take about 10 seconds. Once
the cookie hardens, which begins to happen almost immediately, you
cannot fold it into the shape. Place the cookie on the kitchen towel
to cool and shape the second cookie. Repeat until all the batter is
used up. To speed up the process, bake 4 cookies at a time, staggering
2 cookie sheets by 4 minutes to give you time to shape. To avoid
wasting batter, try the shaping process with a circle of paper first.
|