Cake Balls -- The Ones I’ll Make for Caleb’s Wedding

First week of January. New Year. The new year started with an engagement and the engagement is the lens through which I am viewing everything else. Caleb engaged. The brother who I drove to Mayes County jail in 2017. The brother who I picked up from a gas station in Pryor at 2 AM in 2018. The brother who spent eleven months in jail in 2033. The brother who got clean in 2035. The brother who came to the property every Saturday for sixteen weeks pulling fence in the summer of 2040. The brother who took a deer for me when I couldn't. The brother who went down on a knee at the age of fifty-three to ask a woman to marry him.

The wedding will be in May. They picked the date last weekend. Small wedding. Twenty people. At the cultural center in Tahlequah. Hannah and I are catering. I am cooking. Caleb has asked me to be his best man. I said yes. I said yes before he finished the sentence. He laughed. He said: I figured. I said: yes you figured. We hugged.

I went into the new year with the same intention-list practice. Last year's intention was to have Terry on the property for a spring week. I did not do it. The intention is rolling forward. This year I am going to do it. I will arrange it for late April. I will drive her out. She will stay a week. She will see the property in spring. The intention is now urgent in a way it wasn't last year. Terry is seventy-eight. Time is the thing the elders are not promised.

Caleb Saturday. He brought Miriam. Miriam is now wearing the ring. She showed it to Hannah, who had not seen it close. The ring is small, silver, with a turquoise stone Caleb had bought from a Cherokee silversmith in Tahlequah. It is the right ring for Miriam. It is the right ring for Caleb. Hannah said: I love this ring. Miriam said: I love this ring. The four of us sat in the kitchen. Caleb and I started talking wedding logistics. Hannah and Miriam started talking wedding details. We split into pairs. The afternoon went.

Hannah and I have been turning the menu over in our heads since that Saturday afternoon in the kitchen. Twenty people, a cultural center in Tahlequah, a May wedding — we want food that feels like a celebration without overwhelming the moment. Cake balls keep coming back to me. You can make them the day before, you can coat them in whatever color fits the occasion, and when you set them out on a tray at a small reception they look like you put in more effort than you did. For a wedding that’s supposed to feel intimate and unhurried, that feels exactly right.

Cake Balls

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 1 hr + chilling | Servings: 36 cake balls

Ingredients

• 1 box (15.25 oz) white or yellow cake mix, plus ingredients listed on box (eggs, oil, water)
• 1/2 cup cream cheese frosting (store-bought or homemade)
• 16 oz white, milk, or dark chocolate melting wafers
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable shortening (to thin the chocolate)
• Sprinkles, crushed nuts, or decorating sugar for finishing

Instructions

1. Bake the cake. Prepare and bake the cake mix according to package directions in a 9x13-inch pan. Let cool completely, at least 1 hour.
2. Crumble and mix. Break the cooled cake into fine crumbles in a large bowl. Add the cream cheese frosting and mix by hand or with a spatula until the mixture holds together when pressed. Start with 1/3 cup frosting and add more as needed — the mixture should be moist but not sticky.
3. Roll the balls. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of mixture at a time and roll firmly between your palms into smooth balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Chill. Refrigerate the rolled cake balls for at least 30 minutes, or freeze for 15 minutes, until firm. Firm balls coat much more cleanly.
5. Melt the chocolate. Combine the melting wafers and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, until fully melted and smooth.
6. Dip and coat. Working one at a time, drop a chilled cake ball into the melted chocolate. Use a fork or dipping tool to lift it out, letting excess chocolate drip off. Return to the parchment-lined sheet. Immediately add sprinkles or other toppings before the chocolate sets.
7. Set and store. Allow the coated cake balls to set at room temperature for 20 minutes, or refrigerate for 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 110 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 85mg