This is one of my favorite Mexican Easter traditions (well, of course besides celebrating the resurrection of our Savior who came to die on the cross for us) that I grew up with: Cascarones. Writing about this brings such fond memories to mind, from my childhood.
We usually had an Easter picnic at the park and it always involved amazing fajitas, rice, barbeque, CASCARONES and lots of friends and family. As we got older, we got trickier with our egg fillings for the cascarones. Sometimes it was filled with sugar, flour or baby powder…… If you’re walking through the park on Easter Sunday in Houston, when the festivities have started, you will notice a cloud of flour that has taken over the areas where the Latino families are picnicing.
As a bicultural family, we celebrate both my Mexican tradition and my husbands hiding the Easter egg and bunnies tradition. Well when we moved to Ecuador the hiding the Easter bunny & eggs tradition came to a halt because apparently the Easter bunny didn’t know anything about South America. Believe it or not there are places who don’t do anything with the Easter bunny for Easter, no Easter baskets, plastic eggs filled with candy, bunnies… They didn’t sell any of this Easter stuff we were used to–no plastic Easter eggs to be found, anywhere. It was all about Jesus, shocking. In all honesty, it was shocking coming from the U.S. where there is so much fun stuff to add to our traditions.
This is when we got smart and decided to fill our cascarones with confetti and candy. We don’t crack the eggs over someones head when we stuff them with candy. Now we could hide our cascarones with candy but I still kept a few to smash over someone.
This article was featured on the Inspired by Familia online magazine, to view in flip-page format go here.
I have a smile on my face right now as I picture my uncle and siblings running around chasing each other trying to crack Cascarones on each others head. I on the other hand, would scream and hide by my mom, because, of course, no one would dare crack a powdered filled egg on my mother.
In Mexico, cascarones, confetti-filled eggshells are meant to be broken above the head of friends/family, as a part of the holiday celebration. Many people make a wish as they break the egg. According to tradition, a confetti shower brings good luck to both the one who breaks the shell and the one whose head it is broken over. The word cascarone comes from the Spanish word “cascara”, which means egg shell.
How to make these fun filled eggs:
1. You will need to tap the edge of the egg shell and break a small hole into it. Dump the insides of the egg in the bowl.
2. Rinse your egg out. Let dry. You can use one of drying techniques here
3. Make your dye and decorate the egg however you wish. Here we share with you how to make your own easy egg dye and fun dyeing techniques.
4. Fill your egg with confetti (or candy like we did). You can buy a bag of it or if you’re a glutton for punishment you can make it yourself with a hole puncher.
5. Once filled, cover the whole with a square piece of tissue paper and glue it on.
6. Note you don’t actually smash an egg over someones head. It’s best to smash it in your hand over someone’s head.
Now you’re ready to smash an egg on someone’s head for Jesus (grin).
Check out our other Easter Related Recipes, crafts and more:
- All Things Spring Ideas Issue
- Carrot Cake Pancakes w/ Cream Cheese Glaze
- Egg Dyeing & Drying Tips and Techniques
- Calzones! Carrot shaped
- Bunny Shaped Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Busy & Tech Savvy Family Easter Advent
- Caught in Between the Easter Bunny & the Cross
