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allergy friendly » dairy free » Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls

By Wendy O'Neal 6 Comments

Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure.

Sugar skulls are a traditional food served at Day of the Dead parties, so when I joined forces with some of my favorite bloggers for a Day of the Dead party I knew I had to make some.

How to make Sugar Skulls for a Day of the Dead Party

Day of the Dead Party for Kids

We had so much fun planning and preparing for our party. In addition to the sugar skulls, I made some fun cupcakes.

Day of the Dead Cupcakes

 The Lolly Jane gals made these fun cookies and a banner!

Day of the Dead Party Ideas

Day of the Dead Party Ideas

 

Kate from Songs Kate Sang made these adorable printable masks that the kids colored.

 Day of the Dead Party for Kids

Kimberly from A Night Owl made the most amazing piñata, banner, and silverware holders.

Day of the Dead Party Ideas

 Day of the Dead Party for Kids

Lastly, Vanessa from See Vanessa Craft made the skull centerpieces and paper flowers.

Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls

Everything came together beautifully. Now, let’s talk about these beautiful sugar skulls. I promise they are super duper easy. To make the pressed sugar skulls, all you need is sugar, water, and a mold. And to decorate you sugar skulls you only need a batch of royal icing. Use a good quality gel coloring to color the royal icing.

Continue to Content
Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls on a platter

Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls

Yield: 28
Prep Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours

Sugar skulls are a traditional food served at Day of the Dead parties

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp water
  • Skull Candy Mold - I bought two so I could make them faster
  • Royal icing - check out my easy royal icing recipe and tips
  • Gel Food Colorings
  • Piping bags
  • piping tip #1 - you need a tip for each color to make it easy
  • piping tip #2
  • Silver or gold dragees

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine sugar and water. Sugar will be slightly damp. Press damp sugar into molds, making sure the cavities are completely filled. Let the sugar dry for several hours in the molds (see why I wanted two). Then carefully turn over the molds and gently tap the sugar skulls out and onto waxed paper. Warning: these are not totally dry yet…use caution! Let the skulls finish hardening for several more hours or overnight. Repeat until you have the desired number of skulls.
  2. Prepare royal icing according to your recipe (or use my easy royal icing recipe). Divide icing into several bowls (however many colors you want, this is how many bowls you need). Keep one bowl white. Then add a couple drops of color to each bowl and mix. If the color isn’t dark enough for you, add another drop and stir. Go slowly to reach your desired color.
  3. Put each color in it’s own piping bag with either a #1 or #2 tip. Use the white to place a dot of frosting on the eye sockets and then quickly add silver or gold dragees. Once that hardens in place. Carefully pick up skulls and create designs on the heads of each skull using one or two colors. Swirl patterns, lines, etc…these are small so keep them simple.
  4. Check out my Royal Icing Tips if you need more help using royal icing. There is definitely a learning curve.

Did you make this recipe?

Share and Tag @MyFamilyTable on Instagram...I'd love to see it. Or leave a comment!

© Wendy O'Neal
Cuisine: Mexican / Category: other desserts

Get the details for the rest of the party from these talented gals:

Day of the Dead Skull Centerpiece from See Vanessa Craft
Day of the Dead Skull Pinata from A Night Owl
Day of the Dead Cookies from Lolly Jane
Day of the Dead Mask Printable from Songs Kate Sang
Day of the Dead Cupcakes from Around My Family Table
Day of the Dead Flower Headbands from See Vanessa Craft
Day of the Dead Party Ideas from A Night Owl

Of course with all these talented ladies, we were all snapping pictures, so photo credit in this post is from me and Songs Kate Sang. Thanks to A Night Owl for sharing pictures too!

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Filed Under: dairy free, egg free, gluten free, halloween, vegan

Grab One of My Cookbooks

« Easy Royal Icing Recipe
Groceries on a Budget »

Comments

  1. kate says

    October 18, 2017 at 9:08 am

    Hi, looks awesome 😀 Do you use powdered sugar or just plane white sugar? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Wendy O'Neal says

      October 18, 2017 at 1:57 pm

      Hi Kate, you just use regular ol’ white sugar. w-

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 9 Ways to Celebrate Day of the Dead With Kids | 9 Ways to Celebrate Day of the Dead With Kids | Social Dashboard says:
    October 21, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    […] home. All you need is a sugar-skull mold, sugar and water! Check out this blog post from the blog Around My Family Table for complete […]

    Reply
  2. Dia De Los Muertos Round Up - Around My Family Table says:
    October 11, 2014 at 1:22 am

    […] Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls […]

    Reply
  3. (party) day of the dead skull centerpiece says:
    October 5, 2014 at 3:42 am

    […] Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls – Around My Family Table […]

    Reply
  4. Day of the Dead Party Ideas | A Night Owl Blog says:
    October 3, 2014 at 11:58 am

    […] of the Dead Flower Headbands by See Vanessa Craft Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls by Around My Family […]

    Reply

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