Recipe courtesy Jerri Theil. Find meringue powder at local baking and craft stores. Find skull molds at local craft stores, at Chicano Humanities and Arts Council at 772 Santa Fe Drive (303-571-0440), or online at . Makes about 4-6 skulls.
Ingredients
5 pounds sugar
1/4 cup meringue powder
3-4 tablespoons water, more or less as needed
Directions
Mix together sugar, meringue powder and water, adding water a tablespoon at a time until mixture is the consistency of beach sand, the type you would make sandcastles out of.
Pack it hard into a mold paying special attention to the eyes, neck and edges and making sure the mold is entirely filled. Scrape off any excess, turn skulls out onto a cardboard and let dry overnight.
The next day you can begin decorating. Royal icing (also available at craft and baking stores) works well as a glue or with food coloring as a decoration.
Sugar skulls are not generally eaten, so watercolors and finger-paint also work well. Don’t forget personal touches of glitter, ribbon, feathers and flower or small mementos of someone that has passed.
