babyface*

i've been working on a baking/craft project for snippets online craft magazine. they are working on a Day of the Dead issue that is soon to be released. i decided to make T'anta Wawas or bread babies. T'antas Wawas are an Andean day of the dead baking tradition. it's quite similar to Pan de Muerto, but formed in the shape of children. many of these breads have plaster masks baked into them. for the masks i used a flour based baking clay recipe. click on this link and follow baking clay #2 recipe. this is a completely non-toxic clay recipe, that's why i chose it. you could prolly eat them if you wanted, but i don't think they would taste very good. i meant these masks to be purely decorative. below i will show step by step examples of my mask making process.

follow recipe instructions. when all ingredients have been combined you should have a nice clay base to work with. if your clay is too tacky to work with, add more flour.

take small bits of aluminum foil and form into balls. smash one side flat against the counter.

take a small bit of clay and roll into a ball. press it flat between your fingers to form a flat circle.

take your circle of clay and place it centered over the rounded side of your aluminum foil.

form into a face + add hair or headdress.

be sure to prick holes in the back of thick areas. this will keep your clay form exploding in the oven. a fork works nicely.

place your babyface masks on a foil lined baking sheet.

bake your masks for 30 minutes instead of a full hour. the masks will finish baking with your bread for the remaining 35 minutes.

once they have cooled down, paint details with food coloring. i also used water based inks for those hard to mix colors.

there you have it, babyface masks ready for the bread baking part of your T'anta Wawas.