Ingredients
Method
1.Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a deep 20cm round cake pan; line base and side with baking paper.
2.Place butter, chocolate, the water, sifted cocoa and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Whisk constantly, over low heat, until smooth and well combined. Remove from heat; stand until mixture is lukewarm.
3.Meanwhile, whisk sugar and eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 3 minutes until pale and creamy. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until well combined. Add the flour, beat until combined. Pour mixture into pan.
4.Bake cake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in pan to cool.
5.Line a large tray with baking paper. Beat cream cheese in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and creamy. Remove bowl from mixer.
6.Coarsely crumble cake into another bowl of electric mixer. Gently beat cake on low speed until it separates into crumbs. With motor operating, add small amounts of the cream cheese to cake crumbs until it forms a soft dough (the dough should be moist enough to easily roll into balls without them falling apart). Roll 1½ tablespoons of the cake dough into balls; place on tray. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
7.Using a serrated knife, gently cut off the tip of each ice-cream cone so that you can push a cake pop stick into each one.
8.Place white chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) in 30-second bursts, stirring, until melted and smooth. (Or, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.)
9.Divide chocolate into three heatproof bowls; tint with colourings. Holding a cake ball, gently dip halfway into melted chocolate; push, chocolate-side down, onto a cake pop stick. (Be careful not to push the stick all the way through the cake ball as this may cause it to split.)
10.Gently push the cake pop into an ice-cream cone, so that the stick pokes through the cut tip, and the cake ball sits on the cone with the melted chocolate joining it together.
11.Insert the pop stick end of the cone into a styrofoam square so the cone stands firmly upright. (A thick wooden skewer or small screwdriver may help create a deeper hole in the styrofoam if you need to.) Repeat process with remaining cake balls, sticks and cones.
12.Dip a cake pop into chocolate until the cake ball is evenly coated. Turn it sideways over the bowl and rotate slowly until most of the excess chocolate has dripped back into bowl. Decorate as desired with sprinkles or lollies using remaining chocolate to help glue them on.
13.Insert stick end into styrofoam. Repeat with remaining cake pops, chocolate and decorations. Stand for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.
