Let it Be - Life and Cupcakes

Easter is coming and I was just listening to "Let it Be" - the hauntingly beautiful and uplifting Lennon/McCartney song that we're singing at our Good Friday service tonight. I never realized how perfect it is for Easter -- and how perfectly it describes how I feel lately in this crazy time in my life.

I have been so busy lately that I've had to say "let it be" to regular blog posts this past month. It's a good thing to be busy, but it's also quite stressful. Sometimes I feel like a hamster running on a wheel -- running, running and running but never catching up. I'm so thankful for the glut of writing assignments that have come my way, but it's so hard to manage paid work with the unpaid work of life. You know, those things like kids, housework, cooking dinner, volunteering, grocery shopping ... and the list goes on. Writing here is something I consider my life's work, too. I will get back to regular posting one of these days ... I promise!

Cupcakes for Easter egg hunting.

For now, I will share with you some makeshift Easter cupcakes I made last weekend. This is how crazy things are -- I'm not even going to give you a real recipe. Really, I'm just going to tell you about the icing which turned out awesome. The cake part ended up a little dry and weird. I tried a new Martha Stewart recipe, and I have to say that I'm still searching for that perfect yellow cake recipe. Anyone have one?

As for the icing, I threw some stuff in a bowl and whipped it up. I didn't write it down, but I think it would be pretty busy to replicate using these vague instructions. Here's the beauty part about icing:

Too thick? -- add a little milk or cream

Too thin? -- add a little more powdered sugar

Not chocolatey enough? -- add more cocoa powder

Obviously, tasting as you go is very important! Here's a rough recipe if you feel like playing around.

Made Up Chocolate Icing

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1 tablespoon heavy cream or half and half

1 stick of butter, softened

2 cups (or more) powdered sugar

1/2 cup (or more) cocoa powder

1/4 cup cream or half and half (or more)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pinch of salt

Melt chocolate chips and cream in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir until melted and smooth. Allow mixture to cool to almost room temperature. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and 1/2 of cream until well blended. Mix in chocolate mixture, vanilla, salt and remaining cream and beat for 5 minutes until really smooth and fluffy. Add more cream if the mixture seems too thick. If icing seems too thin, refrigerate and allow to harden a bit before spreading. Good luck!

Have another, they're small!

And here's another crazy thing, the cupcake pictured here is not technically a cupcake. We ate all the "real" cupcakes up at an Easter egg hunt last weekend. I got lazy with the cupcake making and poured my leftover batter into a round cake pan. So, I had a single layer to play with. I thought about making cake pops, but got lazy about that too. I had plenty of leftover icing, but not enough to sufficiently ice the entire layer. What did I do? I got a biscuit cutter and cut the layer into "cup cakes." Then I threw the scraps in the freezer for when I get around to making cake pops! We enjoyed our faux cupcakes and had fun decorating them with sprinkles and Robin's eggs.

Crazy life. Crazy cupcakes. They are not perfect, gorgeous, elaborate, or well-photographed -- and I don't have an Easter dress, I need a pedicure, I have no idea what we are eating for Easter lunch, and my kids have been watching way too much TV ... but "let it be." 

Finally, let me end with a little inspirational note. For those who celebrate Easter, today is a dark and sad day. A day when we're reminded of our humanity, of the violence in the world, of darkness, but ...

And when the night is cloudy

There is still a light that shines on me

Shine on until tomorrow

Let it be

I wake up to the sound of music

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom

Let it be

...There will be an answer, let it be.