Strawberry Daiquiri Cake

Ah, Spring...A time for renewal and new beginnings.  I have always loved Fall, but Spring holds a very close second for me.  I love how my backyard metamorphoses beginning, oh, around the first of February.  My flowers and trees seem to bloom in sync with one another, providing me some new bloom with the each passing month.  This month, it's my red bud tree, tulips and roses.  

Ah, Spring...

Spring also means the beginning of strawberry season in Northern California.  Starting very soon, the local farmer's markets will have the first crops of strawberries.  We're very lucky in the Sacramento area to have a great selection of farmer's markets and local strawberry stands.  Nothing seems to say Spring to me like a great dessert made with strawberries.

And, although this cake uses frozen strawberries for the puree base (you could use fresh, of course), the flavor is spot-on and nicely sweet.  I opted for using the rose frosting pattern for this cake, as I've done for my pistachio and orange almond cakes.  Actually, it's a very easy pattern with great show appeal.  Nicely ties into the roses blooming in my back yard, too.  I love that...

I hope you're enjoying your Spring, wherever that may be...Even in those cooler climates where flowers are just coming up.  

And, just think, you can wear all your white shoes now! *wink* 

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Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Frosting for the Cause

January 2013 Update
Frosting for the Cause website has been removed due to funding,
 so I'm posting this on BIWB.

We appreciate all the support since its inception in 2011. 

Keep up the fight! 


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November 2011

I'm baking in honor of my friend and all my friends' mothers who have fought their own personal battles with breast cancer and other forms of cancer.  And, especially, I am dedicating this baking post to one woman who holds a very special place in my heart, Mrs. Evelyn Finch. 

Mrs. Finch came into my life when I was a very young teenager and she is the mother of two very dear friends from my teenage and college years, Carol and Betsy.  I knew almost from the first meeting that Mrs. Finch welcomed me as another daughter, and the years and years of caring and support by both Mr. and Mrs. Finch have always made me feel safe and loved.  And, even when I wasn't able to see them often.  It can be an uneasy world sometimes, but knowing that they always loved me even when they didn't have to love me has made me a much better person in this life.  Without them, I have no idea how I would have survived some very difficult years.  They were always there, always welcoming, fully supporting me, and never judging me. 

Mr. and Mrs. Finch

So, on to Mrs. Finch's story.   She's battled two bouts of breast cancer with lumpectomies on both breasts and also was diagnosed with kidney cancer.  She's am amazing survivor on many levels.  Always kind-hearted and generous.  A bit of a temper when pushed too hard, but that's the fighter in her.  I'm amazed when she describes her diagnoses and treatments...Almost like they are just something in life you "make do" with and move beyond.  She's had some other health challenges in her life, and seems pretty pragmatic.  I'm a wimp when it comes to medical issues, so she's teaching me to stay steady and work hard to get better. 

I recently visited the Finches whom had moved to Ohio last year.  I hadn't seen them for too long, entirely my fault.  And, what an amazing visit and time with them.!!  I cooked for them and did a few errands, but it was so great to just see them and be in their presence.  Grounding and solid. 

She's often asked me to call her, Evelyn, but I just can't.  She'll always Mrs. Finch to me and I will always love her for keeping me a part of her family.

So, I've made Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream, adapted from a recipe in Intoxicated Cupcakes.  I have shared with Mrs. Finch and her family many a champagne cake created by Nugget Market in Davis, California.  I'm sharing my baked goodies with a local breast cancer group, Bosom Buddies, and they have asked that I speak about Frosting for the Cause.  My other donation will be to the Placer Breast Cancer Endowment which funds cancer research at the U.C. Davis Medical Center.

Mrs. Evelyn Finch

January 2013: I'm also sharing this link over at Cake of the Week's Baking with Spirit!

Recipe follows...

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie {with Frambroise} Day!

Happy Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day!  I know...Aren't you excited?!  I certainly am!!  No question about it, this pie is about as American as you get.  And, it's an amazing pie.  Simple to make, beautiful, and its taste is sublime.  Just the right amount of sweet.  This pie is infused with just a hint of Frambroise which gives a luscious body to the syrup that surrounds the strawberries and rhubarb.

Rhubarb is a vegetable, tastes sour when raw, and it is infamous because of its toxic leaves.  It is only available, fresh, in the late spring and early summer months here in California.  You can also find it frozen.  It's a very sour vegetable and typically is used in baked sweet treats to round out the acidity.  I have also seen it in jams, which I would image are beyond words!

I used fresh rhubarb for my pie and opted for frozen strawberries this time.  I know...why not fresh strawberries, too?  Well, my friend Leslie always used frozen.  Just cuz, I don't know.  But, frozen strawberries are as sweet and pack as much flavor as fresh.  So, I stand by my decision. 

This pie with its hint of Frambroise to round out the filling's sweetness is easy to throw together.  Oh-so-good to enjoy on a beautiful summer day!

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Frosting for the Cause

FROSTING FOR THE CAUSE

Update: Frosting for the Cause website has been removed.  Please following this link to my

Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream. 

Today, I'm posting at Frosting for the Cause, an amazing year-long collaboration of bakers who share their baked goods and stories of those touched by breast cancer.  As today's guest baker, I made Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream and shared a story about Mrs. Evelyn Finch, a very, very special woman in my life.  Please join me over at Frosting for the Cause today!

Frosting for the Cause

The website was created by Paula Kelly-Bourque as an act of love.  Plain and simple.  Her devotion is a true inspiration to me...Here is what it's all about (paraphrased from Paula):

Beginning January 1, 2011, a total of 365 bakers from across Canada and the United States will take turns doing a guest post. Once a day, every day for a year, a new and talented baker will showcase their home-made, hand-decorated cookies, cupcakes and sweets or all kinds and will include their recipes. The guest bakers can also share a personal story about a woman in their life who has had to face this terrible disease head-on.

By signing onto this project each guest baker also commits to donating a batch of their baked goodies to a local Women’s Hospice, local hospital or similar cancer support group.  We also commit to making a personal $25.00 donation to the Canadian or American Cancer Society, or other cancer research organization, to be directed to research projects that are working diligently to find cures specifically for cancers that affect only women.  We, the 365 guest bakers on Frosting for the Cause, will not only raise awareness of all of the cancers that currently affect women, but we will raise a total of $9,125 for research into these diseases.

If you are interested in learning more about this project, please contact Paula at:

Decorating@frostingforthecause.com



Together We Are ♥ Baking ♥ A Difference

Ellen 

Strawberry margarita cupcakes

Pin It I found these strawberry margarita cupcakes in 200 Cupcakes by Joanna Farrow. True to form, I made a couple modifications. I'll post my version of Ms. Farrow's recipe here: