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in honor of my mother's first year as an ancestor, instead of sugar skulls, we opted to make chocolate ones. she loved dark chocolate. is there any other kind? i mean, really now.
we had planned on making the skulls, then decorating them after they'd cooled, but we chose the lazy way. hence the above (hobbit-named) bloody skull look. this is a child-friendly craft, by the way.
what you'll need: small skull molds (google lists many places from which to purchase molds), your favorite chocolate (we used bittersweet), & colored sugar. edited to say :: you'll see that i'd cut the mold into strips. it makes it easier to pop the sugar skulls onto the drying rack. you don't need to do this for chocolate.
* melt your chocolate in a double boiler, or microwave. to do the latter, nuke it for one minute on high, stir, then 20 seconds more, & stir. that should be long enough.
* place your molds on a cookie sheet that fits in your freezer. if you haven't one, cut a piece of cardboard to fit. sprinkle the colored sugar into each skull.
* carefully fill each skull with chocolate. we have tried many ways of getting the chocolate into molds, & a fork was voted the best by thehobbit. you can plop in the bulk, & the last bit drizzles nicely off the tines. easy peasy.
* once all the mold's skulls have been filled, carefully pick up the mold, & tap it on the counter. this should remove any air bubbles.
* pop the tray of skulls into the freezer for at least 15 minutes. the longer you can leave them in, the better. you need their centers to harden.
* sprinkle sugar on a little plate on which you've jauntily placed a bloody skull, & photograph it next to your fancy pumpkin. or just eat it. whichever.
if you do this project, please let me know. i want to see photos! enjoy.
~peace.
