Halloween Monster Cake Pops

To prepare the cake, preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line an 8-inch square cake pan.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Crack in the egg, spoon in the sour cream, and pour in the oil and the vanilla. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.

Pour in the boiling water, and slowly mix until smooth. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes. Then invert it onto a greased rack. Let it cool completely.

To prepare the buttercream, beat butter for a few minutes in the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add powdered sugar and turn the mixer on low, beat until the sugar incorporates with the butter. Add vanilla, heavy cream and cocoa powder, beat on medium speed for another 3 minutes, or until buttercream becomes light and fluffy.

To assemble cake pops, prepare two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Break the cooled cake into a few big chunks by hand, place them into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed until the big pieces turn into crumbs. Add frosting gradually into the cake crumbs and blend until the mixture becomes a dough, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of frosting.

Use a small cookie scoop and scoop and roll dough into evenly sized balls. Place them on the prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Melt a small amount of candy melts (body color) in the microwave gradually, on 10 second intervals and stirring in-between. Dip one end of a lollipop stick in the melted candy and insert it into a cake ball. Repeat until you are done. Refrigerate again for 15 minutes.

Remove the cake pops from the refrigerator. Melt all the candy melts (body color) in the microwave. Dip each cake pop in the candy melt and gently tap off excess. Carefully place one or two candy eyeballs on the cake pop. Place cake pop onto a piece of wax paper. Repeat with the remaining cake pops. Let them dry completely.

Place the other batch of candy melts (hair color) in a microwavable Ziploc bag. Microwave on high for 20 to 30 seconds to completely melt the candy melts. Push the melted candy toward one corner of the bag. With a pair of scissors, snip off a very small opening, and start piping the candy on the top part as hair. See photo!