Sunday, August 16, 2009

Pretty in Pink!

I love pink. My kitchen is mostly pink. The Komen Kitchenaid line; I have most of it on display for all visitors to see. I used to hate pink. Black was my favorite color and it is still one of my favorites. Pink, to me, represented little girls and immaturity. It was the color that you put your baby in to identify its sex. The color of sticky sweet annoyance. Now it represents something completely different for me, cancer. Power. Hope.

I've heard cancer survivors and cancer patients express their hatred toward the pink ribbon. I get it. It is overdone. It’s everywhere and after awhile doesn't it start to lose its meaning? Sort of like saying I love you or I'm sorry over and over again. To some it probably does. To me it doesn't, I still notice every pink ribbon. When a company has a pink ribbon on their packaging, I notice it. I read it to see which organization they support and I think it is cool.

I sport pink because I want everyone to know that I have a passion for breast cancer education. I want people to ask. I want to tell my mother's story. I want to educate people and I want to answer questions. Pink is my power. It is me showing that after all that my family has been through; I have hope for the future. I will succeed. I will be healthy. I am educated.

Let’s talk pink cupcakes.

It has been extremely humid in Maine lately. We had a few nights where it cooled down and it was so comfortable to sleep. Now we are back to this muggy weather. I attribute my cravings for something lemony to the humidity. I was Googling lemon cupcakes and lemon buttercream when I came across these. Lemony AND pink!!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Source: Simply Sweet Bake Shop
Yield: 9 Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1/3 c. thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate
1/4 c. buttermilk
Pink food coloring

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with liners. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites and lemonade concentrate. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until just smooth.
3. Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink.
4. Scoop batter into liners (fill about three-fourths full). Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting (see below).

Lemonade Buttercream:
3 c. + 3 Tbsp. confectioner’s sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. pink lemonade concentrate
Pink food coloring

1. Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemon juice, and a few drops of food coloring to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined.
2. Turn the speed to med-high until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

32 comments:

bunnyrabbit said...

you're amazing, not just in the kitchen, what you do...thats why I married you.

bldvdb said...

My god I love you.

Mary said...

wow...great recipe...I am going to bookmark this and try it soon. I am a pink fan too...my mom and grandmother are survivors.

Jen said...

I love when you said Pink is my power. I completely agree with you there. It's interesting because both of my parents are cancer survivors. My dad doesn't like any attention being drawn to him for that fact, but my mom is very proud to wear her pink ribbons with pride. So I do see both sides of that coin.

I wear a pink livestrong-esque bracelet everyday. I have since the day my mom was diagnosed 5 years ago. I almost forgot to take it off for my wedding ceremony. Someone pointed it out and I really wanted to leave it on. But I didn't. Anyways I'm rambling, but I do love when people ask me about the bracelet. I am often surprised at the number of people who don't know that it's for breast cancer awareness. Maybe I'm just too close to it...

I love your cupcakes. I'm going to have to make these soon.

Also, watch for my blogging event coming up the entire month of October. It's called Power of Pink.

Jelli said...

I love that this recipe only makes 9. I agree also that pink is such a great color. I also have a pink Komen cuisinart coffee maker. It attracts a lot of attention from guests, which just gives me a great reason to tell them about breast cancer research.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say I made these over the weekend and they are the best cupcakes I have ever tasted. I'm not usually a big fan of homemade cake. I prefer boxes. This was so much better! Thanks.

-Natalie

A Bowl Of Mush said...

These are just so pretty!!
What a lovely thought.

diva said...

thank you for sharing! these cupcakes are gorgeous. i have a breast cancer pink ribbon brooch stuck on my favourite blazer (i never take it off) which i wear quite a lot. i think it's impt for all women to know about breast cancer, be aware of it and support one another. :)

Chris said...

I've heard so much about the pink lemonade cupcakes and thought - eh... till I saw your gorgeous pix! Truly beautiful!

Lilas Conuts said...

Hello from Nouméa
Lovely pink cupcakes thank you for sharing

Anonymous said...

I made these cupcakes tonight for my husband and I, and they are amazing! Thank you for the fantastic recipe! :D
-Jessi

Anonymous said...

I was excited to make and try these, but they are just too tart. I had 3 kids try them and none of them finished one. Just not a fan, sorry.

Melanie said...

Age 38, 2 year survivor! PINK is not over done Komen is! I wear pink everyday, mostly in my hair :) These cupcakes sound yummy and I cant wait to try. Thank you for posting.

Anonymous said...

YES! I am pregnant and have been craving lemonade all the time! found these on pintrest and had to have them. thinking of making them for either my baby shower or just because. I can not wait!!! so excited to try :)

Anonymous said...

These were really good! I used raspberry lemonade concentrate because I couldn't find regular pink lemonade at my store. I had a lot of buttercream frosting leftover, in my opinion you could make half & get by just fine...& I like quite a bit of frosting on my cupcakes! Thanks for the yummy recipe!

Linda Lambertson said...

These look so yummy. I am thinking about making them for my Mary Kay party. I love selling Mary Kay. Makes me die for pink things!

Anonymous said...

I wish I could like what bunnyrabbit said. So sweet

Beckio said...

I saw a recipe for pink lemonade cupcakes before and thought that would be interesting. And then I came across your blog and am hooked! I'm making these tomorrow for Easter :) Thank you!

survivor sue said...

I am fighting breast cancer for the second time. I am so thankful I came across your beautiful website. Thank you for bringing together two things dear to my heart, my love of food and cooking and breast cancer research. God bless you!

Stephanie Noftz said...

Made these this morning and they are great! My daughter is turning two and loves lemony things so we are going to make these for her birthday party. Thanks so much for sharing!

AliP said...

Thank you thank you thank you for sharing a recipe that does not use a cake mix. Getting ready to make them now!

Anonymous said...

Just for a little variety, I think I'll try it with limeade and orange juice. (But I think the pink lemonade is my fave.) :) Genius, my dear. Simply genius.

Anonymous said...

Really delicious, I tripled the recipe, and baked it in a 12 cup Bundt pan and it turned out great

Anonymous said...

How long did you bake the bundt cake?

Mariah said...

Hello! I found your recipe on Pinterest. I just wanted to say thanks. These were a big hit for my daughter's 5th birthday.

Anonymous said...

We made them and they are absolutely delicious!! Great recipe..thank you

Unknown said...

I just made these cupcakes for my daughters 9th birthday. I added strawberries to the lemonade concentrate and cooked it on the stove until the strawberries were soft. I then added that mixture to the batter and the icing. They were very good. I found some neon food coloring for the batter which made them extremely brite pink. The icing was not too tart just right. Everyone loved them. I'd show you a picture but I can post one here. Bummer
-djakata

Unknown said...


Gene Patent News

Unknown said...

I wear "my pink" with deep pride. By the time they found the ovarian cancer in my dear sweet mother, it was too late.
So every time I see one, I remember her with fond and cherished memories.
It reminds us " to stay the course " so that cancer can be conquered.

Anonymous said...

Any substitute for the frozen lemon concentrate ?

Unknown said...

I love this and can't wait to try them! I completely agree with you on the color pink, though. I used to absolutely hate it and loved black. Now, it is one of my favorites and can be found somewhere in every one of my rooms. I have a great deal of the pink Kitchenaid line, too.

It doesn't matter what others think about the color or how overdone it is. It brings you strength, power, passion, and a voice and that's all that should matter!

Anonymous said...

I made these cupcakes yesterday and I followed each and every instruction. Unfortunately I do not like them, they smell like play dough and are quite heavy. However, my little brother says they remind him of lemon meringue pie. To each their own! :)