Mexican Sugar Skulls
S.O.C. Terea by Layla Bellissimo
Basic History
 Sugar skulls are a sweet, delectable treat made by the
Mexicans.
 They make them on certain holidays, most widely
known is Day of the Dead. They decorate them in pretty
icings and sell them.
 The kids love them! They are a traditional treat.
 They are a bit too sweet, the main ingredient, is well,
sugar! Just don’t eat too much!
Sugar Skull Fail 
For my SOC Terea, I want to make some sugar skulls. I
loved making them in 6th grade during Spanish class. I asked
Mr. Leibson for some molds and I took them home on
Friday. I knew they weren’t traditional molds but I used
them anyway. I thought I knew the recipe well, but turns
out, I didn’t! I had poured sugar and water into the mold,
with tin foil on the top, I put the skulls in overnight, and
well… IT WAS A DISASTER!! They stuck to the foil and
were so gooey and icky. I couldn’t even decorate! Here’s
some pictures of the disaster.
Attempt #1 Pictures
The substance stuck
and stayed on my
finger when I reached
in to grab it!
Here’s how the gross sugar
skulls looked like!
What you need (to fix) 
What You Need

What You Need

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg white from an extra large egg, or 2 from small eggs

1 teaspoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cornstarch, about a half cup, for powdering surface

Colored sprinkles

Food coloring

Fine paint brush

Colored icing

Candy sticks (optional)
Instructions to Perfection!
1. Sift sugar into a large mixing bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix the egg whites, corn syrup and vanilla.
3. Slowly pour the liquid into the powdered sugar. Mix with your
hands until a sandy dough forms.
4. Form dough into a ball. At this point you can continue or you
can refrigerate dough for later use.
5. Lightly dust surface with cornstarch as well as your hands.
Pinch off a heaping tablespoon of dough and shape it into a
skull.
(time is 10 minutes, and this is a very easy recipe! You just need to
right materials! You also don’t have to follow every rule down to
the exact wording )
Instructions to Perfection!
6. Press the candy sticks into the bottom of each skull.
7. If you're using them, lightly press colored sprinkles into
the soft candy.
8. Let the candy dry overnight.
9. When candy is dry, use the paint brush with food
coloring to decorate the skulls. Or you can use frosting (one
that will dry hard) with a find tip to decorate them.
10. Hand them out as is, or wrap in a small cellophane bag
tied closed with a small ribbon.
Extra Tips!
I needed to follow at least one of these, because I messed up.

The skulls may not dry completely on a humid or rainy day.

If you use the molds, you should follow each manufacturer's instructions as some molds
only work with certain recipes.

The "dough" should be the consistency of damp sand. Just moist enough to hold together.
If "dough" is too dry and crumbly, add 1 teaspoon of water at a time to moisten.

If "dough" is too moist, add sugar one tablespoon at a time until "dough" is the right
consistency.

If the candy has trouble drying completely, place in a 125 degree warm oven until dry.
(The one that is in red, is the one I had to use. I did that for about 10 minutes!)
My own twist
 I ended up not doing 6-9 steps because I wanted to
decorate when the skulls were dry. Here’s how they
looked before the icing!
Icing…mmm…
 I love decorating with icing! I bought some squeezing
icing tubes. (To put the frosting in!) I used cotton candy
flavored frosting. Here’s what it looked like!
I found the
sliver
decoration at
Michaels
while looking
for Icing
Tubes!
Tada!
 Thank you for viewing! Here is my source!
 http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/
ht/candyskulls.htm