Lora’s Pink Affirmation Fortune Cookies

Lora may have left the entertainment industry far behind and oceans away when she left Hollywood to follow the love of her life to Germany but she created her own little entertaining enterprise shortly thereafter.  Diary of a Mad Hausfrau (Mad as in funny mad, captivatingly and inspiringly mad) is the story of her life as an expatriate living in the countryside of Germany with her United Nations serving husband, along with their sheep, chickens, a goat and their neighbour’s cows that graze almost at their poolside!) A visit to this *Mad Hausfrau* is a virtual smorgasbord filled with Lora’s love of baking, her adaptations of German baked treats, excerpts from some of her numerous travels and posts where her feelings are very creatively captured. This unique birthday cake she made for her husband’s 50th will give readers a little insight into the love they both share for scuba diving and travel. She has a page dedicated to photographs of some of her macarons she creates as a member of MacTweets, the likes of which you have never seen before as well as some of her favourite cupcakes. A browse through Lora’s ever-growing recipe page will further entice you to stay a little longer and no doubt, have you making frequent return visits to this beguiling blogger. Very shortly Lora and her husband, Dr. B  will be leaving Germany and settling into a new home back in the United States.  Dr. B has accepted a position with the United Nations in New York City after serving 5 years with the UN in Iraq.  I am delighted that Lora is here today sharing her story and recipe with us today and I wish her and her husband safe travels and all the best  in their new home during their time in New York! You can follow her on Twitter @ofamadhausfrau

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I have been a follower of Frosting for the Cause from it’s debut. What a wonderful idea by Paula and so beautifully executed. I can honestly say I have read each and every post and have been touched not only by the stories, but by how many bloggers have been mobilized to open up their hearts, kitchens and wallets.

Unlike many of my friends, cancer is something that never really touched my life directly until recently. This past year an immediate member of my family was diagnosed with two types of cancer, one right after the other and has been fighting like a tigeress for her life. She is a proud person and has only shared her health condition with a few people so I will respect her wishes and not reveal who she is.

Sometimes it’s hard being an expat as I am not around back home to offer as much help as I would like. In the meantime I try to stay positive about her situation, offer support from across an ocean and distract myself with flour and sugar and creativity.

It took me a while to find the exact idea that “felt” right for this post. I wanted to make something uplifting and pretty. So I finally decided on fortune cookies. I colored and disco dusted them but instead of putting fortunes inside, I wrote affirmations.

I flavored them with Raspberry and Rose instead of the traditional almond.

Because I dropped these off at the oncology ward at our local hospital here, I wrote the affirmations both in English and German. Hopefully they will cause a smile or two when cracked open.

The day I did the test run for these cookies, Laura, a second cousin of mine, contacted me on Facebook asking for donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She was nominated for their Woman of the Year award. Back in 2000 she went though a nightmare bout with this disease. Thankfully Laura is around today enjoying her family and living her life. So call it fate or fortune, I felt my donation place had found me rather than vice versa.

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon raspberry extract
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 tablespoons AP flour
• 1+1/2 teaspoons corn starch
• pinch of salt
• 8 tablespoons white granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons rose water
• gel food coloring (I used Wilton’s Rose Petal, Pink and Rose)
• disco Dust (I used iridescent pink)
• 1 tablespoon drinking clear alcohol (vodka, etc.)

Additional items:

• Paper
• Scissors
• Water glass or cookie cutter 3+1/2 inches in diameter. If you are using a cookie cutter you still need the water glass as well.
• cupcake or mini cupcake pan
• small paintbrush

Directions:

• Write and print your affirmations or fortunes and cut into strips 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.
• Preheat Oven to 300 degrees F
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Take a glass or cookie cutter 3+1/2 inches in diameter and with a marker trace circles on the parchment and flip it over.

• Set out the water glass and a cupcake or mini cupcake pan (the latter worked better for me) near your strips of paper.
• Sift together four, corn starch, salt and sugar, stir in rose water and set aside.
• Place egg whites, oil and extract in mixer bowl and beat until foamy.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients and beat until dough comes together. It should fall in ribbons off a spoon.
• If you want to color the cookies add the color and mix until the batter is tinted. I divided my batter into four separate equal parts and tinted each a different color pink by hand.
• With a teaspoon, place a heaping portion of batter on the center of one of the circles on the parchment. Using the back of the spoon or a small offset spatula gently spread the batter up to the line of the circle.

• Important! Make only a few cookies at a time (4 max) because you need to fold them rather quickly after they come out of the oven. You might want to try two at first until you get the hang of the folding thing.
• Place cookies in the oven and with a wooden spoon, prop the door open a few inches. The reason I did this as well as baked the cookies at a much lower temperature than recommended by other recipes is because I wanted them to cook slowly and tried to avoid having the edges brown. I don’t think they look so nice on colorful cookies.
• Cook for 12-14 minutes. Keep an eye on them. They should be firm to the touch when done and a bit rubbery.
• Remove the cookies and working quickly pick one up with a spatula, flip it over and place the paper strip in the middle and fold the cookie in half.
• Place the cookie over the rim of the water glass and pull both edges down. Repeat with other warm cookies. After making this recipe three times, I learned some crackage is unavoidable.
• Place the cookies inside the muffin pan to keep it’s shape.

• Repeat until all batter is gone.
• When cookies have cooled (they should hold their shape and be a bit hard), dip a small paintbrush into the alcohol and brush it on the cookie, dip brush in disco dust and brush over the alcohol on the cookie. Remember a little disco dust goes a loooong way.

I would like to thank Paula for the opportunity to participate in Frosting for the Cause. What a sweet way to give cancer a a kick in the pants!