John Myers
Dishes and drinks with gold coating literally set highlights on the banquet table. Chocolates, desserts, cakes, and steaks can be prepared relatively easily with gold leaf. Try it!
Exquisite ingredient: gold leaf
When celebrities like soccer player Franck Ribéry eat a steak with gold leaf, many people wonder how the precious metal tastes and how it can be used in the kitchen. The answer is actually not that exciting, because the gold itself has no taste of its own and is easy to work with. The glitter effect, however, is not to be scoffed at: A glass of sparkling wine, in which the gold leaf flakes keep moving due to the pearling, is a great eye-catcher when entertaining guests. Foodstuffs with gold leaf – just like natural flavors – are completely harmless to health, so you can use them to refine dishes to your heart’s content.
The edible gold is approved as a natural colorant with the European label E175 for food preparation. For products marked in this way, there is no limit to how much of the gold leaf you should eat per day. However, the price of about 30 euros for 10 wafer-thin mini papers should have a limiting effect.
How to use gold leaf in the kitchen
You can buy the gold leaf for the kitchen in small booklets with different quantities or as flakes. The latter are a bit easier to handle because they are simply sprinkled on. To use the thin leaves as a decoration, for example for our fondant cake with blueberries, it is best to use a fine fan brush. Charge it electrostatically by stroking it over your hair. The gold leaf then sticks to it and can be easily applied to the food. Their surface should be moistened so that the metal adheres well. Sticky liquids such as honey or sugar water are particularly suitable for this.
Cooking with the precious metal
When baking a summer berry cake and other sweet treats, it is obvious to use gold leaf as a decoration. You can also use the precious metal for cooking. There is not much to consider here. Due to the high melting point of over 1000 degrees, there is no risk of the gold leaf liquefying. It also does not react with spices, so you can use it to ennoble any type of food without worrying. Whether meat or risotto, pies or soups, fish fillet or salads: there are no limits to your imagination.
Starters are recommended for the first attempts with the gold leaf decoration: Dust our shrimp salad in the glass with the glittering gold flakes and put the crowning glory on the layered salad. Or spice up simple finger food such as canapés with it – even a small buffet looks great!
