October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this year, the sponsoring coalition of national public service organizations, professional medical associations and government agencies is celebrating 25 years of “awareness, education and empowerment.” To honor the program’s progress and to contribute to the cause, three of L.A.’s leading pastry chefs have banded together. Hatfield’s pastry chef/co-owner Karen Hatfield, Sprinkles Cupcakes founder/executive pastry chef Candace Nelson and The Bazaar pastry chef Waylynn Lucas are each making a special dessert, and 100% of proceeds will benefit local breast cancer charities.

From October 1 – 7, Hatfield’s is offering a Hibiscus Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Gelée ($11) during dinner only.

Karen Hatfield on her approach in creating the special dessert:

“I think the creative process behind a dish is always one of the most difficult things to put into words. But two things I had to consider was the color – it had to be a pink dessert, which for me is really challenging. It also had to be something that reflected the season we would be serving it in. Pomegranate came to me pretty quickly and I have worked with layered panna cottas in the past so I thought there was an interesting adaptation in there. We are still working out the kinks. Extracting the most pleasing shade of pink takes some tinkering. But knowing the cause we are representing has been really inspiring.”

From October 1-7, Sprinkles is donating 100% of proceeds from its strawberry Pink Ribbon cupcakes ($3.25 each / $36 per dozen) to the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund.

Candace Nelson on her approach in creating the special dessert:

“At Sprinkles, a core component of our mission statement is to support local charities. Designing a cupcake benefiting women’s cancer research was a natural extension of this philosophy. Each October, we donate 100 percent of the proceeds from our pink ribbon strawberry cupcakes to the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund. These gorgeous cupcakes are naturally colored pink from strawberries pureed into the cake and frosting. We adorn them with a complementary pink ribbon sugar decoration so our customers know they’re eating for a sweet cause. I’m thrilled that we’ve grown our total donation to $112,000 in only 5 years!”

For the entire month of October, The Bazaar by José Andrés is donating 100% of proceeds from its Patisserie’s white chocolate pink peppercorn tablets ($3 each) to women’s breast cancer funds.

Waylynn Lucas on her approach in creating the special dessert:

“The inspiration came up with Jose Andres, with his view on blending sweet, savory, fun and unique flavor combinations. White chocolate is so sweet and I am not always drawn to work with it. The sweet spice of the pink peppercorn lends itself well to white chocolate, as the spices balance the sweet. The sweetness of the pink peppercorn, which is actually a dried berry, melds well with pastry applications. I absolutely love it!”