How to: Sugar Skulls!
What kind of blog would this be without sugar skulls? I actually molded these skulls LAST year around this time so that I could decorate them, but never got around to it. So they sat on my shelf for literally a year, and here we are again. They are traditionally made using sugar, water, and meringue powder but we’re going to replace the meringue powder with starch because… well, who needs eggs?
I would recommend starting with the large mold, because they are way easier to decorate. I own the large and medium “Oaxaca” molds, and all I can say is whoever can decorate the small molds and make them look good is my hero.
Sugar skulls are traditionally decorated with royal icing, but I chose to use vegan buttercream simply because, well… I wanted to. :)
What you need: sugar skull mold (if you live in Austin, you can find these at Tesoros around Halloween), piping bags, piping tips (#2, #3, and #8 are good ones to start with), gel food coloring, and a sheet pan or plate for drying.
Sugar Skull Recipe
makes 1 large sized ‘Oaxaca’ skull, front only
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 t cornstarch
- 2 t water*
*for a colored skull, add a tiny amount of gel food color to the water prior to mixing.
Directions: (read the better version here) Mix all ingredients in a bowl- it should feel like wet sand. Pack sugar mixture into mold, and allow to dry about 5 hours. The mold comes with two sides, a front and a back. I didn’t need my skull to be 3D, so I took the lazy man’s approach and just used the front (face) side. Hollow out the skull if you’d like to re-use the sugar for other skulls, or just to make it lighter. You don’t have to hollow it out, it will just take longer to dry. Allow to dry completely overnight (at least 12 hours).
Decorating Buttercream:
Don’t eat this. Trust me, it’s not worth it.
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
- 2-3 T water
Directions: Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream shortening until smooth. Add powdered sugar. Add water 1 T at a time, until frosting is no longer dry. Whip for 2 minutes, or until fluffy. To color, use a TINY amount of gel food coloring (think of the gel coloring as food coloring concentrate), and mix. Load the piping bag (fitted with a piping tip) with colored frosting, and decorate!
mollyjade Said,
October 11, 2011 @ 8:47 pm
You keep pulling out the awesome lately!
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
Thanks, Molly!!
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Jeni Treehugger Said,
October 11, 2011 @ 10:39 pm
AWESOME decorating skillz (or should that be skullz??)
:-)
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
haha, yesss!
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kittee Said,
October 11, 2011 @ 10:54 pm
YAY! MY FAVORITE!
I made these two years ago, and am here to report that powdered egg replacer also works. i can\’t wait to make some of these for my DOTD altar this year. I LOVE YOURS.
xo
kittee
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I remember seeing yours last year & loving them! :D
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Lauren Said,
October 11, 2011 @ 11:02 pm
These are totally awesome.
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Thank you!!
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Mandee Said,
October 12, 2011 @ 12:07 am
They look fantastic, you decoration looks amazing and so bright and colourful
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Thank you, Mandee :) I love bright colors.
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Jen Molica aka Jewbacca Said,
October 12, 2011 @ 7:57 am
Gorgeous. I’d never eat one, I’d just want to laquer it and make a shrine.
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
That’s good, because they would probably taste horrible anyways!! :)
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Cara Said,
October 12, 2011 @ 4:25 pm
I am FLOORED by your awesomeness! These are incredible. What a talented artist you are :)
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Thank you!! Such an awesome compliment! :)
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Jojo Said,
October 13, 2011 @ 5:28 am
Wow, you have some seriously bad ass decorating skills!
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Thanks, Jojo :)<3
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Clara Said,
October 13, 2011 @ 12:11 pm
Wow how pretty! I could seriously never do this!
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:55 am
come on now! I bet you could! :)
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Erin Said,
October 13, 2011 @ 2:35 pm
I love these so much! I’m definitely going to try this this year.
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:55 am
You should! They’re fun & easy!
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urbanvegan Said,
October 14, 2011 @ 5:54 am
Coolest. Post. Ever.
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:54 am
Thanks, Dynise!
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Mo Said,
October 14, 2011 @ 8:18 pm
This post is fantastic! Saving this for later.
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Awesome, Thanks!
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Vanilla Rose Said,
October 15, 2011 @ 10:29 am
So … if you know how to make lemon meringue pie without eggs, please, please let me know because that is one of the few things I haven’t seen a vegan version of yet.
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:51 am
There are several recipes for lemon meringue pie out there! :) I would use the filling from a vegan lemon bar recipe, and use a meringue recipe from Julie Hasson, etc.
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Isobelle Said,
October 15, 2011 @ 5:19 pm
These are so cool! They must have taken such a long time to make
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:50 am
A few hours :) Thank you!
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erin Said,
October 16, 2011 @ 2:11 pm
Gorgeous!!!
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:49 am
Thanks, Erin! :)
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Luciana Said,
October 17, 2011 @ 2:43 pm
These are absolutely beautiful!
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:49 am
Thanks, Luciana!
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Nicole Said,
October 17, 2011 @ 9:27 pm
Love these! You have mad decorating skills and Americolor Gels are so awesome.
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kristen Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Thanks! Your uniform cake was pretty awesome!
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Juana Said,
October 26, 2011 @ 2:35 pm
Thanks for posting this recipe on how to make sugar skulls! I am a first grade Teacher and I love making sugar skulls with my students every year but having a student with severe egg allergies this year almost made me cancel the activity. Thank you so much for giving me an alternative to meringue powder and giving me an opportunity to include all my students in making these lovely skulls! They came out great and my student with the egg allergy had a blast!
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kristen Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Things like this make me so happy! Thank you for sharing & I’m glad y’all had fun :)
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heather em Said,
October 27, 2011 @ 2:48 pm
Hi, i have a question! This is my first time making sugar skulls. i have the Oaxacan medium 2-part mold, but i can’t figure out if i’m supposed to scoop them out or not! From what i can find online, it seems like you’re only supposed to scoop out *large* skulls, but then they also all seem to say that you’re supposed to scoop out *all* 2-part molds… so, i am going nuts! i cast them about 2 hours ago and now i need to know how to proceed. To scoop or not to scoop? For what it’s worth, the instructions that came with the mold says to simply glue the sides together with royal icing, but mentions nothing about scooping. Based on your experience, do you have the answer? Please help! i would be so grateful for any input at this point! Thank you so much in advance. :)
(by the way, your skulls look seriously fabulous.)
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kristen Reply:
October 27th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Hi Heather,
The only reason you need to scoop them out is to make them lighter or help them dry faster. Other than that, scooping doesnt really matter either way. In my opinion, the medium sized don’t need to be scooped out either way since they’re only about 4 inches big. Hope that helps! :)
-K
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heather em Said,
October 27, 2011 @ 10:03 pm
Thanks so much! i went ahead and scooped ‘em anyway, about 4 hours after they were cast, on the off chance that i would be awake enough to decorate them tonight (no such luck); i noticed as i was doing it that they didn’t seem to necessarily *need* it, although i did definitely feel how much lighter they became, and realized why this would be a recommended step for the large ones.
Anyway, thanks so much for the timely and knowledgeable response! Hopefully mine will be as rockin’ as yours… >:)
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Nina Said,
January 16, 2012 @ 3:36 pm
I love skulls.
I love vegan food.
This is the best combination for me! That’s so simple, and you are such an artist… Congratulations :)
Nina
xx
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kristen Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Thanks, Nina! :)
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