Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake Balls with Chocolate Caps

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 in cake pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together cake mix, jello, flour, baking powder, and sugar. Add oil and beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in water and fresh strawberries and beat until smooth. Pour into baking pan and bake according to cake mix package directions.

Let the cake cool completely, then remove it from the pan into a large bowl. Don’t worry about it breaking or crumbling—you’re about to do that anyway! Use your fingers to crumble the cake into fine crumbs. Set aside.

For the frosting:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on high speed until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the 2 cups of powdered sugar and stir on low speed until it begins to incorporate. Once it does, turn the speed up to high and beat until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until desired taste and texture has been reached. Since you won’t be piping this, you don’t really have to worry about the thickness too much. I like my frosting less sweet so I usually don’t add a lot of additional powdered sugar, but it’s more personal preference on this one.

For the chocolate:
Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate coating. Set aside.

To assemble:
Place about a cup of the frosting in the bowl with the cake crumbs. Take off any rings you have (skipped that step more than once and paid for it!), then use your hands to blend the frosting and crumbs together. Once the mixture starts to clump together, try rolling it into a ball. If it sticks, you’re good. If it falls apart, add a little more frosting, about 1/3 cup at a time, until the mixture stays together.

Roll the crumb mixture into 1-inch balls and place them on a baking sheet. Use a spoon to place dollops of the melted chocolate on top of the balls. No need to be perfect here, just get a nice spoonful of chocolate on each one. Place in the fridge and allow to set up before serving.

Cake recipe adapted from Joy The Baker; frosting recipe adapted from Slash Food.