Mix the liquid ingredients together. Combine the egg white, corn syrup, and vanilla in a very clean, totally greaseless bowl. If you want colored sugar skulls, add in the food coloring now. Use one or two drops for a light color, three or four for a rich, more vibrant color. Sift the powdered sugar. Once all the lumps have been sussed out, add it to the liquid mixture with a wooden spoon, spoonful by spoonful. Mix everything together until not quite one uniform consistency. Knead the dough. When the sugar is nearly incorporated into the liquid, start kneading with your fingertips to form the dough into a ball. Dust the countertop with cornstarch, and continue kneading until you have a smooth paste. Mix well with your hands until every bit of sugar is moistened. If your fingerprints remain when you squeeze the sugar in your hand, it is ready to mold. It should feel like cool, beach sand. If it doesn't hold together, mixture is too dry. Remember, water sinks, so keep the sugar mixture mixed up frequently as you make your sugar skulls. When the dough is ready, put it in a plastic bag to chill in the refrigerator. You can store the chilled dough for several months. Make a skull. When

you're ready, divide the dough into as many parts as the number of skulls you want to make. Take a section and roll it into a ball. Squeeze and pinch the ball into a skull shape. Using your fingers, add depressions for the eye sockets and mouth. Use a toothpick to carve out teeth and to smooth out any rough edges. Skull molds work too and are available just for this purpose. Make a sugar syrup. Combine the water and the sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat until a thick sugar syrup is formed. Once the concoction starts to boil, turn the heat down a bit. If it's not thickening, add a bit more sugar. Cool the mixture. Pour the syrup onto a clean cookie sheet, and stir to cool the syrup. Be careful —- the liquid sugar is very hot and very sticky. Fold the sugar. Using a spatula, keep turning and mixing the sugar syrup as it cools. Make sure you work all the syrup on the sheet, so that no one bit cools too quickly. Continue blending and folding until the sugar reaches a play-dough consistency. Form small balls of sugar between your hands. Squeeze and pinch the ball into a skull shape. Using your fingers, add depressions for the eye sockets and mouth. Let the

calavera cool. Decorate your calavera. Using food coloring and colored icing, paint your skull in festive colors. Add sequins to the eyes, and use an icing pipe to make decorative flowers and ornaments. Check out images online for inspiration. You won't be eating your sugar skull, so work away with whatever tools you need. After all the handling and decorating, they're not exactly sanitary.