Tips For Decorating With Edible Gold
Edible gold foil, a sure-fire way to give your favorite desserts a touch of elegance and refinement
Ever notice the beautiful shining shimmer of gold on chocolates, cakes, and candy? Even the famous Willy Wonka gave out 5 golden tickets to get into the chocolate factory.
We may not be giving out golden tickets but we sure are giving out a few great tips for using your loose leaf gold sheets.
What is loose leaf gold?
Loose leaf gold is presented as sheets of edible gold laid loosely (as the name suggests) into books consisting of 10 or 25 sheets. They are traditionally separated by paper-thin tissue paper, referred to as pages. Some users, when decorating with edible gold, prefer to use gold leaf that is separated by transfer tissue paper—but, that's for another article. In this article we will focus solely on loose leaf type metal foils.
Gold leaf is fragile so handle with care at all times.
All loose leaf gold and silver is fragile, so it's an absolute must that you handle it with delicacy. Avoid swift movements, static, breathing directly on the product, and only expose as much of the sheet you intend to use. This will save you tremendously from wasting gold by getting it stuck to unintended objects or blowing away by accident.
A little gold leaf goes a long way.
When decorating with edible gold, a little goes a long way. There's no need to overdo it. Accent with touches of gold in areas you wish to highlight. We personally enjoy small accents rather than completely covering an area.
Think about colors that naturally work well with gold.
White cakes, naked cakes, chocolate or dark-tone cakes—most colors really work well with gold leaf. We favor a minimalist approach when working with gold leaf but do what works for you and your customer base. Loose leaf gold foil is great for accenting because the sheets are loose and can be added to almost anything.
If you have never used gold leaf, familiarize yourself with the product before getting started.
Do a little light reading or watch some videos. We have a couple videos here on how to use gold leaf. It will take practice before you feel comfortable handling your 24 karat, so make sure to do a trial run before attempting a masterpiece. Working with gold or metal leaf requires technique. It's a new skill set so it will require a little work and patience. Don't get discouraged if you waste a few sheets; it happens to everyone. Sooner than later you will be a gold leaf master! Just stick with it and find your gold leaf groove.
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