AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL WAYS TO MAKE YOUR FOOD SHINE NOW

Nothing makes food shine more beautifully than edible gold. We found some beautifully gilded savories and sweets to share with you, from stunning starters to gleaming desserts. Some, you can make yourself. We also tell you where to find others you can order for instant no-work golden gratification.

Zafferano, a UK-based caterer, makes some stunning golden sushi rolls. Their rolls are filled with medallions of top grade tuna and a smear of edamame puree, before they are sheathed in edible gold leaf for a totally beautiful shine. Wow!

Edible gold is pure 24 karat gold that is rolled into extremely tissue-thin gold leaf sheets. You can either use the sheet whole, it comes in flakes, powders, sequins, stars, and other sparkly shapes. It’s tasteless, calorie-free, and easily digestible.

You can find some fabulous recipes for risottos, soups, pastas, sushi, and sweets, all with gold or silver as a starring ingredient at Edible Gold. They also sell edible gold and silver decoratives that can give your recipes a 24 carat shine.

As early as the 15th century, alchemists covered sweets in edible gold to sustain the health of royalty. Elizabethans dusted fruits with edible gold dust. While edible gold has been added to sake and other foods and drink in Japan for centuries.

Italian royalty and gentry used to decorate their risotto with edible gold leaves in the 16th century. One of my favorite romantic food memories was eating saffron risotto, gilded with a large sheet of 24 carat edible gold, at the Michelin starred Ristorante Il Desco, in Romeo and Juliet’s hometown, Verona, Italy.

It was a beautiful experience, not easily recreated at home.

But chef Gualtiero Marchesi created a recipe, featured in Nathan Myhrvold’s Modernist Cuisine, which let’s you make the golden romance happen with ease. While the idea of “pressure-cooked risotto” sounds like a sacrifice, Marchesi’s recipe delivers perfect al dente Arborio grains, suspended in a perfectly voluptuous, heady saffron sauce -- it is a a simple quick flash of pure beautiful genius. 

EDIBLE GOLD LEAF FLORENTINES

Kate, of Kate’s Creative Space, created the most beautiful Edible Gold-leaf Florentines.

These delicate confections are made of thin wafers of chocolate, sprinkled with bits of dried fruits and nuts. Kate uses candied citrus peel, raisins, glace cherries and flaked almonds. We love them with slivers of dried apricots.

Either way, these beauties are then daubed with edible gold leaf, making them one of the most spectacular shiny bites we’ve ever had.

See how Kate makes her florentines shine here.

GILDED MARZIPANS

Nordic Kandie Magic, a lovely Scandinavian confectioner, now based in India, creates these gorgeous gilded artisanal marzipan candies, made from a 15th century family recipe.

These little edible works of art are made from the finest Mamra almonds from Iran, wrapped in Belgian chocolate, and covered with pure edible gold from an ancient factory Florence in Italy.

CHERRY BLOSSOM GOLD LOLLIPOPS

These shiny pink and gold lollipops just might be the prettiest ones ever made. Real cherry blossoms are encased in candy that is flavored with cherry blossom extract and flecked with 24 carat edible gold flakes.

The Cherry Blossom Lollipops are handmade to order by Vanessa Beller, of A Secret Forest Patisserie, in California. You can order them online here.

GOLD SUPPLIES

Sure, it’s an indulgence. It gives a luxurious shine to everything it touches. It shines up your mood too. If you are ready to add some shine to your diet, here are a few more  good places to start.

CornucAupia

CornucAupia has great ideas about edible gold, like dusting it atop black squid ink linguine or free-form mosaic-gilding cakes. Check out the CornucAupia’s “DeiAurum” line of 24K edible gold leaf and pure edible silver leaf products. Purchase them online at CornucAupia.

Squires Kitchen

Squires Kitchen, in Surrey, UK, sells 24-carat edible gold leaf in easy-to-use transfer sheets. You can create smooth polished metallic-effect cakes that deliver massive shine impact.

You can also use the transfer sheets to gild cookies, cupcakes, chocolate work, desserts and even fruit. It’s easy to do. Check out Squires Kitchen for edible gold supplies and easy instructions.

Read more about Beautiful Shine, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Books That Shine Now and News About Nature’s Iridescent Shine Happening Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Photo: by Chef Roland Reynolds. Genoise with Strawberry-Cognac Cream, Candied Violets, and Edible Gold-Leaf.
2. Image: Courtesy of Zafferano Catering. Sushi rolls with edible Gold Leaf.
3. Image: Courtesy of Edible Gold. Golden Sushi Roll.
4. Image: Courtesy of CornucAupia. Edible Gold Flakes on Black Squid Ink Pasta.
5. Image: Courtesy of Modernist Cuisine. Pressure Cooked Vegetable Risotto with Gold Leaf.
6. Image: Courtesy of Modernist Cuisine. Root Risotto.
7. Photo by Kate of Kate’s Creative Space. Edible Gold-leaf Florentines.
8. Image: Courtesy of Nordic Kandie Magic. Gold Dusted Marzipan.
9. Image: Courtesy of A Secret Forest Patisserie. Natural Cherry Blossom Lollipops.
10. Image: Courtesy of CornucAupia. Edible Gold Leaf Cake Decorations.
11. Image: Courtesy of Squires Kitchen. Gold Leaf Sheets on a Cake.
12. Image: Courtesy of Cake Stuff. Rainbow Dust GOLD SEQUINS Edible Confetti Sprinkles.
13. Image: Courtesy of Edible Gold. Chocolate Tart with Edible Gold.
14. Image: Courtesy of Linen and Lace Love. Star Spangled Popsicles.