Pink For The Cause

It's October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So I dedicate these pink cupcakes to my wonderfully courageous grandmother, who is a breast cancer survivor. woot! She has endured quite the battle since her diagnosis in the fall of 2007. She had her first surgery, a lumpectomy, in February of 2008 and had to have a mastectomy in April of the same year. Her recovery was slow because she's a diabetic and she had some other complications but she is ALIVE and well- thank God!

The thing that I find interesting or miraculous about my grandma's detection is that she had never, in her 66 years, had a mammogram. My aunt (her sister-in-law) convinced her to go get one and that's where they discovered her lump. Her life was forever changed after that. I think part of never getting an exam was that it never crossed her mind to do it. It wasn't something that she thought would ever happen to her. But it did happen to her, and it can happen to YOU or me. Please don't think that you can't be affected. Don't think that you're too young, or too old, or that no one else in your family has/had it so you're exempt. No one is exempt from cancer. Get a breast exam.

Okay, I'm stepping off my soap box. I just think it's important and more and more people are being diagnosed with breast cancer than ever before. I want you to save your own life, so please do a monthly self exam and get yearly checkups.

On to the fabulously pink cupcakes. It's my go to recipe, only this time instead of adding frozen strawberries, I added freshly diced and made them into cupcakes. I topped them with my all-time favorite vanilla bean cream cheese frosting and sprinkled them with pink non-pareils. Strawberries n' cream anyone? Make some for the women and men (they can get breast cancer too!) in your life and remind them of the importance of a self breast exam. Remind them to think pink!

Strawberry Cupcakes adapted from Monica and Joy

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• 1 box white or yellow cake mix
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 small box strawberry Jello
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/3 cup fresh strawberries, finely diced
• 2 Tablespoons flour

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake tin with 24 paper liners or grease and flour 2 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.

In a small bowl or a measuring cup, dissolve Jello in hot water. Set aside and let cool while mixing the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, baking powder, oil, eggs. Thoroughly mix in the gelatin mixture.

Coat chopped strawberries in flour and fold into cake batter.

Spoon into prepared pans and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes for cupcakes and 30-35 minutes for 2 9-inch pans. Bake til toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely in pans before inverting onto a cooling rack or cake platter. Cover in frosting of your choice.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
• 5 cups powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined. Then add the vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, and powdered sugar and beat at low speed, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy.

Makes enough to generously frost about 30 cupcakes.

NOTE: If you're going to pipe with it, you need all 5 cups of powdered sugar so it's stiff enough to work with.

We think PINK!