Halloween monster cake pops

Crumble the chocolate cake into small pieces; they need not be uniform.

Leave about a cup of the vanilla buttercream in the mixing bowl; add cocoa powder and one tablespoon of milk.

Crumble the cake into the bowl up to the chosen level; keep or freeze the rest of the cake.

Mix on low until like cookie dough. Optionally add three tablespoons of sprinkles.

Scoop with a one-and-a-half-inch cookie scoop and roll into balls, pressing a little so they are firmer; set on a baking sheet.

Freeze at least 20 minutes so they set and stay on the stick.

Melt the candy melts in the microwave at half power, about a minute and change.

Working two to four frozen balls at a time, re-roll if saggy, push a lollipop stick halfway in, dip and spoon the candy melt over, swirl, tap off the excess, smooth with a finger or spatula, and stand upright.

If the candy melt gets lumpy, warm it a little; if it still misbehaves, mix in a little vegetable oil very thoroughly.

Divide the rest of the buttercream into three and colour it black (with a little blue to darken it), green (with a little black) and purple.

Pipe hair or fur with grass tips, building up layers; attach candy eyes, sour-straw antennae and fruit roll-up tongues with candy melt or buttercream as glue; pipe teeth with a small leaf tip.