Wow, am I lucky! I read this article which says that in order to increase my metabolism and perhaps lose some weight, all I have to do is do some strength training. Which I do, two and sometimes three times a week.

My trainer Robbie helps me out and then I also bought these CDs, in case I have some extra time at home to exercise in between everything else I’m doing and in case I believe that someday, even though I am now grandma age, I can look like that woman instructor with the sculpted arms, small rear end and slim thighs. 

Well, I could exercise all day and night and never look like that, especially if I eat these cupcakes, which my daughter Gillian made for her son (my grandson’s) Remy’s first birthday party this weekend. But they sure were deeelish! (Recipe below)

So let me ask. Is it worth devouring one or two of these and then having to work out more?

My mother used to quote a favorite actress of hers, Loretta Young, who apparently said something like this: “a moment on the lip, forever on the hip.” Loretta Young was gorgeous and slim. But I wonder if she ever ate a really delicious cupcake.

White Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/4 cups milk

5 large egg whites

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 24-30 cupcake tins (or line them with paper cupcake holders). Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl (use an electric mixer) or a standing mixer, cream the butter and 1-1/4 cups of the sugar together at medium speed for about 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk, beating after each addition. In another bowl, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until they stand in soft peaks. Continue to beat at high speed, gradually adding the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, until the mixture stands in stiff peaks. Fold the beaten whites into the batter. Spoon the batter into the cupcake cups, filling them 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Makes 30-36 cupcakes

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

8 ounces cream cheese

3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

milk

Beat the butter, cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add enough milk to make the frosting easy to spread. Enough for 12-15 cupcakes

If I could go anywhere today it would be to Saint Cupcake, which makes gorgeous looking cupcakes in all sorts of flavors that you just don’t see everywhere. Like the “Fat Elvis,” which is a banana-chocolate-chip poundcake bottom iced with salty-sweet peanut butter fudge and if that isn’t enough for you, they also garnish with a banana chip.

Or you can buy a Turtle cupcake with fudge and caramel and pecans on top of chocolate cake.

Of course there’s vanilla and chocolate and so on.

There’s stuff for vegans too: German chocolate cake, carrot cakes and others.

Unfortunately, the store is in Portland, Oregon, which is exactly 2992.51 miles from my house.

But I knew the owner, Jami Curl, would be the right person to contact when I needed a recipe for Red Velvet Cake, which she says is the bakery’s most popular cupcake for Valentine’s Day.

I “met” Jami on the internet, on Tumblr, and we became fast friends even though we are a continent apart and I am old enough to be her mother. Sometimes you just connect with people. You know you like them — to paraphrase a famous movie line, you know like you know a good melon. You like them based on what they say in their blogs. Besides baking all those delicious looking cupcakes, she seems like a down-to-earth person who enjoys her life and her work and reads a lot of interesting things that she posts about frequently.

Sure enough, she was generous enough to send me her recipe for Red Velvet Cake, which I am posting below.

If you’re lucky enough to live near Saint Cupcake, you can stop by to choose your favorite cupcake, icing and sprinkles (they ship stuff too).  The bakery is expanding soon, so you Oregonians will be able to buy fresh baked goodies other than cupcakes. Take a look at the website to see the cupcake offerings at the moment: saintcupcake.com

But if you’re stuck on the other side of the earth and want to make some yummy Red Velvet Cupcakes (or one cake) for Valentine’s Day or any other time, here’s Jami’s recipe. She frosts Red Velvet either with a classic 7-minute frosting or cream cheese frosting:

Saint Cupcake Red Velvet Cake

2-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 standard size muffin pans with baking cup liners

 In a bowl, whisk together the cake flour, salt, cocoa and baking powder. In a pitcher, combine the buttermilk, food coloring and vanilla. In a stand mixer set to medium speed, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated — scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl after each addition. Add the flour mixture in portions — alternating with the buttermilk mixture — until just blended and smooth. In a cup combine the vinegar and the baking soda — allow to fizz — then fold into the batter by hand. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and place in the oven immediately. Bake for 15 minutes then check the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick. If you have a few crumbs clinging to the toothpick, the cupcakes are done. If the toothpick is coated with batter, then the cupcakes need a few more minutes. Take care not to overbake, they will dry out very quickly. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then place them on  cooling rack to cool completely before icing.