Sopa Azteca De Tortilla brings back so many wonderful memories for me. My beloved grandfather used to make this delicious Tortilla Aztec Soup anytime there was an abundance of potatoes in the house. I used to look forward to the gooey cheese, savory chile broth, and crisp tortilla strips. In remembrance of my beautiful grandpa for Dia De Los Muertos, I’ve partnered with Ole Mexican Foods to share his infamous Sopa Azteca De Tortilla! Just like my grandpa used to… I used La Banderita Flour Tortillas to fry up perfectly crisp tortilla strips.

These Calavera Conchas came to me in a dream. I was setting up my alter for Dia De Los Muertos and kept saying I wanted something that would pop. A voice with no face suggested conchas. I’m not sure if it was a subconscious element that suggested conchas since that is what my Grandfather used to eat with his coffee or if it was my grandfather paying me a visit in dream form. I woke up and knew I had to bring them to life. I hope you will make them and let them pop on your alter…. not to mention they are absolutely delicious!

What’s with Mexicans and skulls? Usually skulls are associated with a negative connatation, but for Mexicans during Dia De Los Muertos, the skull takes on a completely different and beautiful meaning. The skull represents death and rebirth, the death of somebody leaving the world as we know it, and a rebirth of your beloved one who has passed and their soul moving on to a world of spirits and the afterlife. The skull personifies the humans we once knew, and during the Day of The Dead we take the time to honor the family and friends we have lost with offerings to their spirits in the shape of the skull, the same way our ancestors had done centuries before us. Of course there are the traditional foods associated with Dia De Los Muertos like Pan De Muerto, Tamales, Sugar Skulls, and Mole. I observe those foods as much as the next person , but I also enjoy making a skull dessert and decorating it ever year along with building my in-home alter.

I needed some flowers for my home altar I’m building, where I will eventually present my foods. Once I grabbed the yellow silk marigolds I ran across a skeleton mold on my way to the check out, and quickly imagined what it would look like on top of a cake. I thought of my friend Rocio who I lost twenty years ago and how she loved chocolate cake. This year in addition to my family, I will make a special place for Rocio’s chocolate cake and decorate it in marshmallow flowers .

Ingredients for Dia De Los Muertos Gelatina Cake:

• 2 – packets Knox gelatin
• 1 – can La Lechera (sweetened condensed milk)
• skeleton gelatin mold
• Chocolate cake mix
• eggs
• water
• oil
• chocolate frosting
• small marshmallows
• colored sugar
• small round colored candies
• black icing.

Directions:

1. In a bowl mix together 2 cups of boiling hot water and Knox gelatin. Mix until completely dissolved. Add in entire can of La Lechera and mix to combine. Should make 3 cups. Pour into skull mold and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. 
2. Bake cake according to box and allow it to cool completely.
3. Assemble and frost cake with frosting.
4. Cut marshmallows with sharp kitchen scissors diagonally.
5. Then dip sticky side of cut marshmallow into a dish of colored sugar to color marshmallow petals. Set to the side until ready to use. 
6. Unmold gelatin skull from mold. Place it in the center of frosted cake. 
7. Decorate the sides of the cake with colored marshmallow petals, and place a small round candy in the center of the flowers. 
8. Take the black icing fitted with a piping attachment and fill the eye cavity of skull gelatin with icing. 
9. Also draw a straight line across the skull mouth, then stitch over from top to bottom with black icing. Let the icing mouth sit on the gelatin skull for about 10 minutes, then remove the icing to reveal a stain.
10. Fill the nose cavity with colored sugar.
11. Decorate the forehead of the skull with  marshmallow flower petals.
12. Enjoy!

PIN PICTURE BELOW FOR LATER:

I’m thinking of my feisty friend Alfonso (my fiancés father) as Dia De Los Muertos approaches.  It’s been almost 5 years since he stepped out of his human life and floated into the other side. I was there as he passed and watched his face go calm in peace.  Awwww, that man. He loved to fight with me.  I think I was probably the only female in his world brave enough to not agree with his every word.  He knew I had a good heart but wasn’t gonna back down.  He use to call me his lawyer because when he needed something done or figured out, I was the one he would turn to to get it done.  He said I had a persuasive way. When we first met he questioned my ability to cook and doubted I could find my way around the kitchen.  I loved proving him wrong.  I think he thought of himself as somewhat of a master of the cocina, but the truth was he was seriously the salsa king.  I had to give it to him, his salsa rocked.  I would bring him empty jars all the time so he never had an excuse not to share his salsa with me.  He took such pride in making his salsa and would just gloat to everyone how great it was, and most of the time people had no other choice but to agree.   He would set up a bowl of his salsa, a slab of queso fresco, chopped up avocado cubes, and a pile of corn chips, and that combo was his snack.

I used to sit in his kitchen sometimes and watch him make it.  I’ve never tried to recreate his perfect salsa since he’s been gone, but I do think of him every time I make my own salsa.  I have to eat it the same way he did, with queso fresco (Mexican cheese), avocado, and chips.  This Calavera Queso Fresco Salsa Dip is my ode to that lovely grump Alfonso Lopez that I still love and I once knew.

Ingredients for Calavera Salsa Dip:

• 1 – package Queso Fresco
• 3 – tomatoes
• 1 – tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 – jalapeños
• 4- serrano chiles
• 4 – fresh chile de arbol
• 1 – onion (peeled and cut in half)
• 4 – garlic cloves (peeled)
• 1 – teaspoon vinegar
• 1 pinch of dried oregano
• salt and pepper
• 2 – cups of water
• avocado
• corn chips
• Pistachios, and chile flakes for decorating calavera

Directions:

• Remove queso fresco from package, and with a small pairing knife cut the sides of the cheese to shape into a skeleton head.  Then with a small circle cookie cutter punch out the eyes. Place on a platter and place back in the fridge.  
• In a medium pot filled halfway with water over a high flame, bring to a boil.  Add in tomatoes and boil for 30 minutes.  Set to the side. 
• In a frying pan over a medium flame add vegetable oil and allow it to get hot.
• Add in chiles, onion, and garlic cloves. Fry on all sides until charred and browned. 
• Remove stems from chiles, and place in the blender with tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves,  vinegar, oregano, salt, pepper, and water (I use the water the tomatoes boiled in). Blend until desired consistency is reached. 
• Decorate the calavera with chile flakes around the eyes, and use pistachios for the mouth. 
• Place calavera shaped queso fresco on a plate, then pour the salsa  around the plate. Decorate the edges with avocado cubes.
• Serve with chips. 
• ENJOY!

Im memory of my sweet friend Alfonso… I miss you.

Dia de los muertos couldn’t be celebrated without the age old tradition of pan de muerto. I am thrilled to make a beautiful potato version of this “bread of the dead” in honor of my beloved departed uncle. I will make two loafs…. one to eat, and one to decorate my home alter with. How will you celebrate Day of the dead? Watch my video below to see how easy it is to make this delicious bread. 

Ingredients for Potato Pan De Muerto:

• 1 – package active yeast
• 1/2 – cup luke warm water
• 1 – teaspoon salt
• 1/2 – cup sugar
• 1 – cup mashed Idaho potatoes ( leftovers work best)
• 1/2 – cup butter (softened)
• 2 – eggs (beaten)
• 3 – cups bread flour plus more for kneading
• olive oil
• Egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon water whisked together)

Directions:

1. Add yeast and water to a mixer, and allow yeast to activate for 10 minutes.
2. Pour salt and sugar to the yeast mixture. Give it a good mix.
3. Spoon in the mashed potatoes and break them up with a spoon if you need to. Then add in the butter and eggs. Mix to combine to hook attachment.
4. Add in the bread flour, one cup at a time until the dough comes together and no longer sticks to the mixer about 5 minutes.
5. Generously flour a clean work surface then knead dough until smooth.
6. Grease a bowl with a little bit of olive oil. Place dough in greased bowl and turn it once inside to ensure the entire dough is well greased.
7. Cover dough with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 2 hours.
8. Remove towel and punch down the dough.
9. Generously flour a clean work surface then knead dough again until smooth.
10. Grease two 8 -inch cake pans and set to the side.
11. Divide the dough into equal 3 parts.
12. Place two of the parts in each cake pan, and reserve the additional part for decorating.
13. Allow the dough to sit for an additional hour before decorating.
14. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
15. With the extra part, roll the dough out to make bone decorations for the top of the loaf.
16. Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash.
17. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
18. Enjoy!

I would like to give a special THANK YOU to the Idaho Potato Commission for sponsoring this video. It is my absolute honor to work with you. 

I would also love to Thank my amazing crew.

Mando Lopez: Director/Editor

Tony Molina: Director of Photography

Jeshua Viveiros: Sound and the awesome calaca make-up artist – he used the Crafty Chica make-up line.

Earrings by ilaments Jewlery – Lisa Rocha!

 This is the first time I have ever tried my hand at making my own homemade calavera. It really forced me to step out of my comfort zone. For as long as I could remember I have always built my alter in memory of my uncle and then once it was complete I would run out and buy a calavera / sugar skull where ever I could find them. Not this time….. I wanted to personalize my calaveras in memory of my loved ones lost.

Ingredients for sugar skulls / calavera:

• 6- cups granulated sugar
• 6 – teaspoons meringue powder
• 6 – teaspoons water

 That amount made 5 large skulls total. A little bigger then my clinched fist.

Ingredients for royal icing:

• 4 – cups powdered sugar
• 3 – tablespoons meringue powder
• 6 – tablespoons warm water

Other supplies you may use:

• colored foil paper
• sequins
• beads
• soda pop tops
• seeds
• feathers

Directions:

1. First mix granulated sugar and meringue powder together.
2. Then slowly drizzle with water. The mixture should feel like beach sand.
3. Firmly pack sugar into mold, making sure there are no bubbles.
4. Scrape the back of the sugar mold with a knife for an even surface.
5. Invert the sugar mold onto a hard surface.
6. Let the skulls dry for 8 hours.
7. Once the skulls are hard enough to touch, use a spoon and scoop out the middle, it should still be soft enough to scoop. Leave a 1/2 inch thick wall around the edge. (I made more calaveras with the extra sugar)
8. Allow the hollowed skulls to dry for an additional 15 hours or overnight.
9. Make royal icing: Mix powdered sugar, meringue powder, and warm water together. A thick paste will form. According to the amount of colors you’d like to use, divide the icing into that amount of separate bowls and color with concentrated paste food coloring of your choice. Then place each color in it’s own disposable piping bag fitted with a decorative metal tip.
10. Then using a white royal icing trace along the lines of the two pieces of skull that come together. Make sure no to pipe the neck with royal icing.
11. Align the two pieces together and allow to dry before decorating.
12. Decorate the face as you desire. Some calavera have decorative eyes, and other use an inside down heart for the nose.
13. Enjoy!

There’s something to be said for a sugar cookie that someone has carefully taken the time to decorate. This is one of my favorite ways to spend my afternoon. Filling in the small details and add extra decorative depth to my cookies. I naturally like to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos with decorative sugar cookies. They make my alter look so amazing and the rest are for me and my family to enjoy and remember our loved ones lost. I make my sugar cookies with Mazola corn oil for  a more crisp taste. I’ll share the recipe in my next post. But for now….. Watch my video on how to decorate Dia de Los Muertos Sugar Cookies.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and Mazola. However, all opinions expressed are my own.