Ingredients

Step by step

1. Write each fortune message on 6cm x 1cm rectangles of white paper (20 in total). Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4 and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Have a palette knife, a glass or cup, and a muffin tin at the ready, as you need to work quickly to shape the cookies when they come out of the oven, before they set too hard.
2. Sift the flour and cornflour into a bowl then stir in the sugar and ½ teaspoon salt. Lightly beat the egg whites, then add to the flour with the extracts, oil and 2 tablespoons cold water. Beat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, spreadable batter.
3. Starting with only 2 cookies for your first batch (as a bit of a practice run, and to check the cooking time in your particular oven), spoon two separate scant tablespoonfuls of batter onto a lined baking tray. Use the back of the spoon to spread out the mixture to a circle, about 10cm in diameter. It should almost be thin enough to see through. Bake until the cookies are golden brown and crisp at the edges, but still quite pale and pliable in the centre – start checking after 5 minutes, they may take up to 10 minutes but ovens do vary so you need to keep an eye on them. After the first batch or two you'll know how long they take. You can prepare another 2-3 cookies on the second baking sheet once the first batch are in.
4. As each batch of cookies is ready, remove from the oven and use the palette knife to loosen a cookie and flip it over. Quickly place the fortune message in the centre of the cookie then fold it in half to create a semi-circle. To create the classic fortune cookie shape, hold the cookie at each pointed end and press the folded edge against the rim of a cup so that it bends into shape (it will be quite warm!). Transfer the fortune cookie to the muffin tin to cool and set, while you carry on shaping the reminder. Repeat with the rest of the batter in batches (you can shape a maximum of 4 cookies per batch if you work really quickly once they are out of the oven, but 3 at a time is easier).
5. Once the fortune cookies have hardened, partially dip into the melted chocolate and put on a sheet of baking paper. Sprinkle with candied orange and leave to set firm.