Chocolate Floral Crown Skull Sugar Cookies
One of my favorite Halloween icons is the Dia de los Muertos sugar skull. Its colorful and intricate and just a lot of fun! Growing up in Southern California, they were everywhere this time of year and I loved it.
Plenty of cookie bakers (artists really) have made some amazing sugar skull cookies. I'm always amazed at the detail some people put into cookies. And as much as I would love to replicate their work, I thought I would stick to what I was comfortable with and make flower crown skull sugar cookies, instead!
Step 1: Paint black flood consistency royal icing onto the face of the cookie and let it dry (10 minutes).
Step 2: Etch the eyes, nose, and teeth into the dried icing.
Step 3: Outline the face of the cookie, then dot flood consistency icing where you want the teeth to be. Use a scribe tool to help shape the teeth.
Step 4: Outline mouth. Drag the wet icing down in between the teeth.
Step 5: Outline the eyes and nose. Then fill in the rest of the face with flood consistency white icing. Use a toothpick or scribe tool to fill everything in. Let dry for at least 4 hours.
Step 6: Using stiff consistency royal icing and piping tips #14, #24, #2, and #349, pipe roses, dots, and leaves around the forehead of the skull. Let dry for at least 2 hours.
Step 7: Mix silver luster dust with a bit of clear alcohol (i.e. vodka or rum) then paint onto the crown. Let dry for 10 minutes.
You can also use the same technique to make jack-o-lanterns, but I think I'm partial to the skulls. How about you?
