Cooking With Princess

One of my absolute fave appetizers, especially when it's starting to get brisk out, is French onion soup. It is so scrumdiddlyumptious and I used to order it whenever I went out to eat at my favorite lil French restaurant....until i found out, although it's considered "vegetarian," it had beef stock for flavouring in it! I also found out that some places add wine as well. If you are eating out and concerned, best thing to do is ask for the manager (that's how I found out about the soup) and make sure that what you're ordering, if not halal, is vegetarian or vegan and does not contain alcohol.

So, I figured the next best thing, would be to make the soup myself! That way, I know exactly whats in it, without taking any chances with falsely advertised ingredients. I found a yum recipe on Rachael Ray's website that you might also like. She adds wine into the recipe so I just omitted that and didn't even add it on the list here. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, divided
• 4 large onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 small bundle of a combination of fresh flat leaf parsley, a few sprigs of fresh sage and fresh bay leaves
• 2 quarts beef stock (*you can use vegetable stock if you prefer)
  
• 1 baguette, sliced into 8 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and halved
• 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese
  
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Preparation

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 6 tablespoons of the butter and let it melt. Stir in the onion and the thyme and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion caramelizes, about 40-45 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the mushrooms in a small pot and cover with a couple of cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer to reconstitute the mushrooms.
Remove the mushrooms from their broth with a slotted spoon to a cutting board. Chop them, and add them to the onion. Add all but the last 1/2 cup of the mushroom liquid to the soup, about 1 cup. Add the herb bundle and the stock to the pot and simmer the soup for 30-45 minutes. Cool and refrigerate for a make-ahead meal. Reheat over medium heat, covered, and prepare the croutons when ready to serve.
Heat the oven to 425°F. Toast the bread on a rack over a baking sheet, until deep golden brown. Butter the bread, using the 2 tablespoons of remaining butter, and liberally rub with the cut garlic. Top the toasts with the cheeses and return them to the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly. For a more dramatic presentation, the toasts may be arranged on top of crocks of soup, put on a baking sheet, then topped with cheese and baked to brown.
Ladle the soup into serving bowls and serve with the cheese toasts.
*photo courtesy of marthastewart,com

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I think baking is so much fun to do and one of my favorite desserts to make are cupcakes! Magnolia's Bakery, made popular by movies like Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada, is known for making amazing red-velvet cupcakes. They have locations in New York City and Dubai, but don't fret, cuz if you don't happen to be nearby a bakery, you can make a batch yourself! Here's a recipe for red-velvet cupcakes, my favorite!


Ingredients:
3 ⅓ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons red food coloring
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract (I use vanilla beans cuz the extract contains alcohol)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour three 9 x 2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper.

To make the cake:
In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overheat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.


Frosting
1 pound (two 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate icing for 2 to 3 hours, but no longer, to thicken before using.

Frost the cupcakes, let cool and decorate with sprinkles, cookie or brownie pieces, fruit, candy, anything you like!

Makes enough for one 2- or 3-layer 9-inch cake.