As our thoughts turn toward Halloween at the end of this month, it’s still important to remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an effort to raise awareness and educate women all around the world in hopes that early detection could make a significant amount of difference in a woman’s life.

Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer in women, skin cancer being the first. In honor of raising awareness for the cause, what better way to catch everyone’s attention and keep the conversation about breast cancer going this month than with these yummy cupcakes?

For this recipe, we used cake mix from a box and, with a few alterations and some homemade cream cheese your cupcakes will be the breast homemade cupcakes ever!

Medium

Prep Time: 30 minutes (including frosting cupcakes)
Bake Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
 
Servings: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 box cake mix (any flavor)
3 large eggs
½ cup apple sauce (substitutes oil in the box recipe)
1 cup of water
Food coloring (neon pink, orange)
Paper baking cups
Cupcake gems
Creamy Frosting (vanilla, chocolate)

Cupcake Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

2. Mix according to box instructions, adding your preferred substitutions.

cupcake

Photo by Rachel Davis

3. Add food coloring until you’ve reached your desired color.

cupcake

Photo by Rachel Davis

4. Scoop batter into baking cups.
Tip: use an ice cream scoop or 2 tablespoons for the perfect amount

cupcake

Photo by Rachel Davis

5. Bake according to box directions.
6. When done, remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool down before frosting.

Frosting Directions:

1. Mix creamy vanilla frosting with a few drops of neon pink to reach desired color.
Tip: Chocolate frosting tends to be thicker, so mixing it with creamy frosting will make it a lighter shade and texture for easy spreading.
2. Once the cupcakes are cool, use a spoon or a knife to spread the base colored frosting on the cupcakes.
3. In another bowl mix a darker shade of frosting for the nipples.

cupcake

Photo by Rachel Davis

4. Spoon frosting into a zip-top plastic freezer bag. Snip a hole in one corner of the bag and start piping in circular motion to create the areola.
5. Decorate with cupcake gems to make it look like pierced nipples.

cupcake

Photo by Rachel Davis

6. Spread breast cancer awareness and enjoy!

cupcake

Photo by Rachel Davis