The Día de Muertos is one of the biggest festivities in Mexico. Every November 1st and 2nd, the so-called “altar de Muertos” are set up to welcome the faithful departed who return to the world of the living to spend time with their loved ones during this colorful festivity.  

The altar de Muertos has several elements such as Flores de cempasúchil, copal, incense, and pan de Muerto, but undoubtedly something that characterizes the traditional Mexican ofrenda is its delicious calaveritas de azúcar.

This blog teaches how to make sugar skulls at home. Super easy and fast. 

You may be interested in: Recipe for traditional Mexican Conchas. 

Let’s start with the recipe!

Ingredients:  

• 1 kg of Refined Sugar.  
• 30 ml of water.  
• 1 tablespoon of natural vanilla extract.  
• 280 g of Glass Sugar.  
• Vegetable coloring: Blue, Yellow, Red, and Green.  
• 1 egg white.  
• Colored sequins.  

Utensils:  

• Skull mold.  
• Ziploc bag or piping bag.  
• Baking tray.  
• Aluminum foil. 

Preparation:  

Calaverita de Azúcar.  

1. In a bowl place your two cups of refined sugar, add your 30 ml of water and stir until you get a sandy mass.  
2. Add your teaspoon of vanilla to your mixture and stir until incorporated.  
3. Once our dough is ready, with the help of a kitchen shovel begin filling the calaverita molds. With the help of your fingers, press your sugar into the mold to eliminate the empty spaces and get a firm calaverita. Repeat this step until you run out of dough.  
4. Unmold your skull halves and place them on a baking sheet.  
5. Bake your calaveritas at 110° for 25 minutes. This is just to get them to compact properly.  
6. Once out of the oven, let your calaveritas rest to cool.  

Decoration. 

1. In a bowl, sift the powdered sugar.  
2. Add the egg white and stir until you get a thick consistency.  
3. Separate your mixture into four bowls and add 2 to 3 drops of food coloring. Stir until you get the desired shade. Repeat for each color.  
4. Place each of your color mixtures in a different piping bag. Make sure the tip is extra thin.  
5. With this same icing, join the two halves of your calaverita.  
6. Now that we have our colors ready, it’s time to decorate! Let your imagination work its magic or look for design references on the internet and decorate your sugar skull as you like.  
7. With the help of the icing, glue a sequin on each eye of your skull. 

You may be interested in: Everything you need to know about the  Altar of the Dead.

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