[su_slider source=”media: 28378,28377,28376,28375,28374″ limit=”25″ link=”image” target=”blank” width=”700″ height=”460″ autoplay=”0″ speed=”500″][su_menu][/su_slider]

The sizzling sound of boiling sugar accompanied by a wooden spoon clinking against a copper dipper can be heard as Miguel Luna Quintana stirs to honor and preserve an art form that’s been handed down to him from past generations.

“I come to the Mission only to make skulls, and show people what materials are needed to make them,” Quintana said, while standing on 24th Street next to the bright neon-orange sign reading “Free Classes of Sugar Skull Making.” Quintana visits the Mission at least four times a year to educate people on the history of sugar skulls—a staple when celebrating the traditional Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos—and how to create them.

Born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, Quintana has been making sugar skulls for more than 20 years, using the very same molds that have been passed down to him from five generations. The Quintana family is known to create some of the most resplendent detailed sugar skulls in Puebla.

As people flock to Quintana’s makeshift station, he shows them that the sugar skull-making process is quite simple.

“All you need is regular cane sugar and water,” Quintana said.

A copper dipper is preferable, so that the water can boil properly, and a thermometer is usually needed to measure the water temperature.

“If I leave the sugar boiling for too long it will fry,” Quintana explained.

However, Quintana’s vast experience has enabled him to ditch the thermometer, and simply eyeball the boiling water. He then tests the sugar by pouring it into a plastic container, which he stirs. If the sugar hardens, then it’s ready to be poured into the molds for shaping.

“After pouring into the molds we have to leave it in there for two minutes as it forms the shape of the pottery,” he said.

Once it has taken shape of the mold, it’s time to decorate the skull. Powdered sugar, egg yolk, and colored frosting are what Quintana uses to decorate the skulls, which can be made into all sorts of sizes—from hand-size to that of an actual human skull.

Día de los Muertos is celebrated on Nov. 1-2. The belief is that the gates of heaven open up at midnight on Oct. 31, and the deceased children are allowed 24 hours to reunite with their families. Nov. 2 is for celebrating deceased adults.

Ofrendas (altars) honoring the dead are usually found in homes throughout Mexico. Sugarcane is usually used as an arch that is placed over the ofrenda as an archway to heaven. Candles, cempasuchil (Mexican marigolds), mounds of fruit and pan de muerto (Day of the Dead bread) are items typically used to decorate the ofrendas.
The offerings also include what the deceased loved the most, whether it was liquor, food, music or cigarettes. For the angelitos (children), bread, toys and candles are put out.

Sugar skulls date back to the colonial era of the 18th century.

“We use the skulls for two reasons,” Quintana said. “The first is because in Mexico we have a custom to present the dead a gift they loved, whether it was food or beverage. The second is because sugar skulls are seen throughout markets in Mexico. [Día de los Muertos] isn’t just considered a religious holiday, but it has been embedded in our culture.”