Edible Gold Leaf
Edible gold leaf is a type of metal leaf that you can use in order to add that little extra extravagance to your food. Edible gold is often used as a dessert decoration such as for wedding cakes or chocolates. However, it can also be used for food decoration on a wide variety of dishes. This being a tradition going back thousands of years. As such, edible gold sheets can often be applied to savoury dishes as well. An famous and potentially infamous modern example being the salt bae gold steak.
When using edible gold, many people will wonder whether the gold leaf sheets used are real or imitation gold. Whilst imitation edible gold does exist, more often than not, real gold is what you will see when looking at edible gold leaf sheets.
However, this won’t just be any old gold though. Instead, it will be as near to completely pure 24 karat gold as possible. The reason is pure gold that lacks contaminants making it biologically inert. As such, it will pass through the digestive tract without reacting in any way at all.
When it comes to our edible gold product lines though, there are two types of products available to you. These are edible gold in the form of gold leaf sheets and those in gold leaf flakes. Each of which is used in distinct ways to decorate your food with gold.
Edible Gold Sheets
When wanting to layer edible gold on top of your food, edible gold leaf sheets are the best way to go. This is because these will come in a sheet of gold that can be easily layered atop the food and simply secured.
Our sheets are available as transfer/patent leaf or in loose-leaf booklets. Each of which can come in batches of 25, 50, 100 or 500 sheets. Every sheet though will be 80mm squares in dimensions. As such, these make for an easy and even measurement for applying to food in large consistent layers.
Additionally, they, like any edible gold, are classified as a natural food additive. As such they are incredibly pure examples of gold due to being 23.75 Karats.
Loose Leaf
Loose leaf sheets are a type of edible gold sheet that is kept in individual tissue paper compartments. Doing this will allow the gold leaf sheets to be easily removed from the booklet. This is accomplished by simply dropping it from the packet or extracting it with a gilder’s knife. Following which you can place it on a gilder’s cushion. It can then be laid atop the desired food.
Edible Gold Flakes
Another option for using edible gold to decorate food though is to decorate it with some edible gold flakes. Doing so is incredibly simple to do as all it requires is that you sprinkle a tweezer pinch of the flakes atop the dish in question. The result of which is a wonderfully subtle yet extravagant addition to your food or drink.
As with the sheets of edible leaf, edible gold flakes are extremely pure in quality with a 23.75 Karat rating. Additionally, these edible flakes will come in 150mg jars and include a set of bamboo tweezers in order to delicately place the gold flakes where you wish on your dish.
Gold Leaf for Food
Using gold leaf for food is incredibly common. You can choose to go with gold leaf flakes, loose leaf, or gold leaf sheets according to your preference. No matter which you choose, you should know that there are endless opportunities out there for you to add a little glitz and glamor to your food without having to worry about getting sick in the process.
Is Gold Leaf Really Edible?
While it may seem strange, you should know that genuine gold leaf, especially those marked as “edible” gold leaf, is indeed safe to eat. However, there are pure gold types that may not be as safe as those designated specifically as edible gold leaf, so we always recommend you look for edible quality gold leaf or edible gold flakes if your intention is to eventually eat them.
Choose to buy your gold in the form of 24 karat gold, or buy gold leaf that is imitation gold leaf; as long as it is labeled as edible it is fair game! And while there are studies conducted that prove gold is biologically inert and therefore, won’t have any effect on your digestive tract, just know that some with smaller carat value may contain more impurities and thus, may not be fit for the human body the way that edible gold leaves are.
What Is Gold Leaf Used for in Food?
When it comes to how gold leaf is actually used in food, you may find yourself surprised. Edible gold leaf is often used as decoration on birthday cake, truffles, cupcakes, alcoholic drinks, wedding cakes, for candy making, and a wide variety of other resourceful ways for dining pleasure. Gold leaf sheets are usually used in tiny pieces on desserts, but whole sheets can be used as well. We’ve even seen a gold leaf bun and gold flaked chicken wings! Food decoration opportunities are endless when it comes to the use of edible gold leaf sheets.
Know also that other metal leaf varieties also exist, although, once again, you’ll want to make sure that your copper leaf and silver leaf are indeed edible before you decide to eat it.
Why Is Edible Gold Leaf So Cheap?
Edible gold leaf sheets may seem cheap when compared to real gold jewelry or other gold artifacts, but the truth of the matter is that the price appears low because you are getting such a small amount of genuine gold. When gold leaf is pounded into sheets, the thinness can be less than that of a human hair, meaning you really aren’t getting a lot of this delicate metal, and the price you see reflects that.
Remember also that the price of your gold leaf will change depending on how pure it is, so the lower price point you see reflected may be an indication that it is a lesser karat gold than the genuine 24 karat sort.
How Expensive Is Edible Gold Leaf?
Edible gold leaf can sometimes seem quite expensive, especially if it is genuine gold. Edible gold that is 23 carats and up may be pricer, but they are also the purest varieties available. This makes them perfect for big events when you want to decorate food using high style and sophisticated means.
Gold Leaf For Food Is a Glamorously Wonderful Idea
All in all, using gold leaf for food is an especially glamorous idea. When it comes to baking up cakes, cupcakes, or adding a bit of metallic sparkle to virtually anything you could imagine. We hope we’ve inspired you!
FAQ – Edible Gold Leaf
What is edible gold leaf made of?
Edible gold leaf comes in the form of either gold flakes or sheets of gold leaf in books of 25 sheets. In order for it to be edible though, the gold leaf must be made from incredibly pure gold of at least 22 Karats. The reason is that pure gold will be biologically inert and therefore have no adverse effect on the human body. That being said though, imitation gold leaf made from zinc or copper can also be edible but only in smaller quantities.
Is it safe to eat gold leaf?
When you are considering eating gold leaf, you should only do so if the purity is at least 22 Karats gold. This is due to the fact that pure gold is biologically inert meaning it will harmlessly pass through the digestive tract. That said though, edible imitation gold made from zinc and copper can also be consumed but only in small quantities.
What does edible gold leaf taste like?
Edible gold leaf is a type of incredibly pure gold that is applied to food and drinks for the purpose of decoration. Due to being used with food though, edible gold must obviously be safe to eat. As such, only pure gold of at least 22 Karats should be consumed. Due to this though, the gold will be biologically inert and will as a result not have any taste to it. However, edible gold will add a slightly crunchy texture to the dish, although decoration is often the primary purpose.
Why is gold leaf so cheap?
Gold has a reputation for being a particularly expensive precious metal. However, the gold leaf will often be something that is surprisingly cheap to most people. The reason why some gold leaf can be cheap is that it is either imitation gold leaf or not very high in karat purity. That said though, even high karat gold leaf may be more affordable than you’d expect. The reason for this is that gold leaf is intended for gilding projects and will therefore come in very thin gold paper. As such, the quantities of gold on these square sheets when you buy gold leaf may be smaller than you would initially anticipate.