How to Make Mexican Sugar Skulls

An angled view of a decorated sugar skull and two skulls in the background.

Learn how to make beautiful Sugar Skulls to celebrate the Day of the Dead with this easy to follow recipe. With just a few simple ingredients and some colorful decorations, you can create a sugar skull to honor your loved ones for this beloved Mexican tradition.

Prep Time12

Total Time12

Course: Dessert and Pastries

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings:

Calories: 1540kcal

Author: Tristin - Home Cooked Harvest

Ingredients

For the Skull

2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons meringue powder
small bowl of water

For the Royal Icing

2 pounds confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons meringue powder
food coloring

Instructions

To make skull

In a large bowl, mix together white sugar and meringue powder. Add in 2 teaspoons of water and mix well by hand. It should feel like moist sand. If you squeeze some of the sugar paste in your hand it should hold its shape well. If it doesn't add a teaspoon of water at a time until it holds.
Press the sugar mixture into the front of your mold, packing it in tightly. Make the back flat by scraping it with a bench scraper. Repeat this with the back of the mold. You can either immediately un-mold by flipping the skull onto a square of cardboard or allow the mixture to dry in the mold. Leave to dry at least 8 hours or overnight.

To make royal Icing

Once skulls are completely dry, make the royal icing. To a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and water. Mix slowly with an electric mixer or in stand mixer until nice and thick. Add a thin, even layer of the icing to one of the skull halves to have them stick together. Let dry for at least an hour.
Separate the icing into small bowls depending on the number of colors you are wanting to use. Add food coloring and mix until the desired color is reached. Fill the piping bags that have been fitted with decorating tips with the icing. Decorate skull and let dry for 3-4 hours.

Notes

- Humidity. If you live in a humid area and it is a very humid day, I don't recommend making these skulls. Wait for a less humid day.

- Too much water. If you added too much water to the skull mixture, add a little sugar at a time until the texture is correct.

- Press well. Press the granulated white sugar mixture really well into the skull mold to ensure it will hold its shape.

- Completely dry. Make sure the skulls are completely dry and hardened before making it into sugar skull art.

- Keep someplace dry. Make sure to keep away from liquids, moisture or humidity, since it is made of sugar the day of the dead skull can melt.

* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.

Nutrition