Raymond Tan is bringing a touch of sweetness and surprise to The Morning Show, whipping up his signature chocolate-dipped fortune cookies complete with personalised fortunes for Larry and Kylie.
The self-taught baker and author of You’re Welcome! has built a devoted following with his colourful, creative bakes that blend classic techniques with Southeast Asian flavours and influences.
Drawing on a recipe that helped make him famous, Raymond will show viewers how to make and decorate fortune cookies at home, while sharing the story behind the eye-catching treats that have become a staple at his bakeries and a favourite during Lunar New Year celebrations.
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Ingredients
1–2 sheets of paper
Oil spray, for greasing
115 g (4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
80 g (2¾ oz) egg whites (from 2–3 large eggs)
90 g (3¼ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
3 g (¾ teaspoon) ground cinnamon
2 g (¾ teaspoon) ground cardamom
2 g (⅓ teaspoon) fine salt
2.5 g (¼ teaspoon) vanilla extract
20 g (¾ oz) unsalted butter, melted
250 g (9 oz) compound white chocolate
(see note), chopped
20 g (1 tablespoon) vegetable or other neutral oil
Few drops of oil-based food colouring of choice
Method
1. Print out or hand-write your fortunes on paper so they’ll fit onto strips about 10 × 1 cm (4 × ½ inch) in size. Cut them into individual fortunes and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line two baking trays with silicone mats (or use non-stick baking trays; avoid using baking paper as it could go flying) and lightly grease the mats with oil spray.
3. Add the sugar and egg whites to a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of gently simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir continuously with a silicone spatula until the sugar dissolves, about 1–2 minutes, then remove the bowl from the heat.
4. Add the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, vanilla extract and melted butter and stir until the batter is smooth with no visible lumps. This should come together quickly, creating a thick but spreadable mixture, with a similar consistency to pancake batter. If the batter seems too thick, add a few drops of water to thin it out; if it’s too thin, mix in a teaspoon of flour to thicken it.
5. With a tablespoon or a small ice-cream scoop, spoon six dollops of batter onto a silicone mat.
6. With a spoon or offset spatula, spread each dollop into a disc about 9 cm (3½ inches) in diameter, making sure the discs aren’t too thin. I freestyle, but you can also use an egg ring or cookie cutter to determine the shape. You can likely fit more cookies on each tray, but I prefer to have two trays going – making six cookies at a time – to allow time to shape each cookie.
7. Bake one tray of cookies until the cookies are evenly brown, about 10–12 minutes.
8. Remove the tray from the oven and, working quickly, gently remove one cookie from the tray using an offset spatula. Place a prepared fortune in the centre and fold the cookie in half to enclose it. Now pick it up by the folded corners and push the sealed side gently against the edge of a cup or container so the cookie folds down into a classic fortune-cookie shape.
9. Transfer to a muffin tray to set the shape (for at least a minute). Repeat with remaining cookies, then transfer the shaped cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. If the cookies cool down too much before shaping, they’ll crack and be harder to fold. If this happens, return the tray to the oven for about 30 seconds until the cookies soften. Repeat the baking and shaping with the remaining batter.
10. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave (heat it in 15-second bursts, stirring between each, until melted; or melt it in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water). Add the vegetable oil, stir to combine thoroughly, then add the food colouring, drop by drop, until it reaches your desired shade. (You can make multiple colours if you want to mix and match.)
11. Dip the cooled fortune cookies into the chocolate mixture, pipe any designs on top, then place them on a sheet of baking paper to set. Fortune cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.