What are huesos de santo made of?

In Spain, they also eat huesos de santo, otherwise known as “holy bones” or “saints' bones.” Pastry chefs create this sweet, skeletal replica using a thin sheet of white marzipan (a sugary, ground almond paste) formed into a tube, or in this case, the shape of a hollow bone.

Dictionary. huesos noun, plural, masculine. bones pl . pits pl . carcass n .

What is a Spanish Santo?

A santo ('saint') is a religious statue in the Catholic traditions of Spain and the former Spanish Empire . They are usually made of wood or sometimes ivory and may be fitted with textile clothing. They depict the Virgin Mary, Jesus, saints, or angels. A santero (female: santera) is a craftsperson who makes the image.

Where is the Sima de los Huesos cave?

The Sima de los Huesos – the Pit of Bones – is a cave site in Atapuerca Mountains, northern Spain . Between 600,000 and 300,000 years ago, the region was inhabited by a population of a fossil hominin species, named the Sima de los Huesos hominin after the cave site.

What does hueso mean in Spanish slang?

Hueso means "bone" but it also means " a drudgery, rotten job, hard job ". Another meaning is "piece of junk or rubbish".

What does bones mean in Latin?

ossum [ossi] ▼ (2nd) N. noun. bone-, made / consisting of bone adjective. osseus [ossea, osseum] ▼ adjective.

What does Cayo Hueso mean in English?

Cayo Hueso means Bone Island . Spanish settlers originally called Key West Cayo Hueso, which translates to bone island, referring to the bones of the Calusa Indians who had once lived in the Florida Keys.

What was found at Sima de los Huesos?

Atapuerca is a cave called Sima de los Huesos (“Pit of the Bones”), where more than 1,600 human fossils, including several nearly complete skulls , have been found. The age of this material is at least 300,000 years and may be as old as 600,000 years.

What species was found at Sima de los Huesos?

The results now show that the Sima de los Huesos hominins were indeed early Neandertals . Neandertals may have acquired different mitochondrial genomes later, perhaps as the result of gene flow from Africa. The Sima de los Huesos hominins lived approximately 400,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene.

Huesos de Santo Recipe [Easy Spanish Saint's Bones]

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The scariest time of the year is here, and the best thing you can do is make it flood your entire house. Not only in spooky decorations, but also in the dishes you prepare.

Gone are the days when just candy was enough to make a good Halloween snack, we recommend that you take it to another level. You can do this with the help of the Huesos de Santo.

This is one of the most popular all saints day recipes and in this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about it, from how to make it, to how to customize it, how to serve it, and much more. Enjoy this Spanish dessert recipe.

Huesos de Santo Recipe [Easy Spanish Saint's Bones] - Visit Southern Spain (1)

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Background of the Dish

Huesos de Santo Recipe [Easy Spanish Saint's Bones] - Visit Southern Spain (2)

Huesos de Santo or Saint’s bones is a recipe that consists of dried Spanish marzipan in the shape of a tube and filled with egg yolk cream, known as pastry cream.

It is one of the most popular marzipan desserts, and there are already records from 1600 in Spain. It is a perfect Halloween dessert idea since it was created to be eaten at that time of year.

Unlike other desserts with marzipan that are more Christmassy, this one is for Halloween because it coincides with the almond harvest at its best.

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Things You’ll Need for Huesos de Santo

This Huesos de Santo requires a handful of ingredients, but the main ones are sugar, ground almond, egg yolks, and water, so anyone can make them.

Feel free to try other Spanish sweet recipes such as the Spanish almond cake or Pestinos.

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Ingredients

1 3/4 cup (200g) of ground almonds
1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
1/2 cup (150ml) water
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup (150g) powdered sugar (for the icing)

How to Make Huesos de Santo – Step by Step Guide

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This is a marzipan dessert, so to start you have to prepare the marzipan. Put a pot with 200g of sugar and 100ml of water, and heat it over medium or high heat until it boils. Let it cook for a minute, and remove it from the heat.

Put the ground almonds in a bowl and add a third of the freshly prepared syrup. Stir and continue adding the rest of the syrup until you get a paste that you can handle without sticking to the edges.

Make a ball with that dough and take it to the refrigerator for an hour to cool, or half an hour in the freezer.

After that, stretch the dough with a toothpick. With a skewer mark the typical lines of the Saint’s bones and cut some rectangles about 2 inches/5cm wide by 2.3 inches/ 6cm high.

To roll the marzipan into a cylinder shape, use the handle of a wooden spoon. Roll up well and seal the edges. Let it dry for a couple of hours so it doesn’t lose its shape.

In the meantime, prepare the sweet with the egg yolk. For this, pour the yolks into a glass bowl resistant to high temperatures and set them aside.

Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the fire, control its temperature and when it reaches 105 degrees, pour over the yolks.

Beat with a rod whisk to integrate and take the bowl to the bain-marie. Stir constantly.

The cream has to be thick so it will take 25 or 30 minutes. Once thick, take it out and let it cool.

When the marzipan cylinders are dry, put the cold yolk cream in a pastry bag and fill.

Once they are all filled, grab the powdered sugar and a few tablespoons of water to make the glaze and cover them on top.

Substitution of Ingredients

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Like other marzipan recipes, it is a bit difficult to make changes to the Huesos de Santo recipe since the ingredients are few but essential.

Unfortunately, marzipan can only be made with the listed ingredients, so you can’t make changes to that.

What you can do is buy the marzipan tubes already ready to be filled, which are quite easy to get in Spain, especially during October.

If you were looking for Halloween party desserts, you can use other fillings to give it more variety.

For example, you can make some homemade sweets like buttercream with red food coloring to look like blood, or dulce de leche.

You can even have the icing with red food coloring and the Bones Santos will transform into the best scary Halloween food you’ve ever tasted.

Tips on Serving Huesos de Santo

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The Huesos de Santo is one of the most fun desserts to make, and also to eat of course.It’s considered one of the best Spanish desserts for a good reason.

You can serve them at room temperature, or leave them in the fridge to serve them very cold.

You can eat them for breakfast, as a snack, or as a dessert.

If you were looking for other easy Halloween treats, you can follow other famous recipes and make a super Andalusian Halloween with dishes like Spanish apple empanadas, Bunuelos de Viento, and Dulce de Membrillo recipe.

How to Store Huesos de Santo

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If you follow this marzipan recipe there is only one way you can store the Huesos de Santo: in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Some people prefer to store them at room temperature, and this works if it’s just for a day or a couple of hours.

Remember that the filling of these Halloween desserts is made with egg yolks so if you leave it for more than a day at room temperature then it will go bad.

Recipe Card: Huesos de Santo

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