Gold–plated Happy Hour

We're all tired of hearing about gold-plated cell phones, iPods -- you name it, they'll plate it -- but have you heard about gilding your food or drink? With gold leaf, it’s easy and it will wow! your guests.

For years, savvy cooks have been using edible gold and silver for party food and cocktails. There’s a company called  Easy Leaf Products, which imports ORO FINO (edible gold) and ARGENTO FINO (edible silver), which sent us some sprinkles, petals and leaves of gold to try. While we weren’t sure 23 karat genuine gold or silver leaves were meant to be eaten, there's no denying it sparkles up an evening. For easy instructions on how to go ""Drab to Fab," just check out some of their easy recipes and instructions, like "How to Gild".

But can you eat gold – or should you? Sure, it’s actually an inert metal that simply passes through the intestinal system.( In antiquity, gold was used to prepare medicines and was considered a digestive and constitutional. )

As gold will not lose its shine up to to very high temperatures and can be frozen, you can see why cooks started using it. Sprinkle some on a chocolate cake and make it look like it came from a fancy bakery. Here’s our favorite cocktail recipe from the website:

Cocktails and Beverages - To gild a martini or other cocktail, shake some edible gold or silver sprinkles onto parchment paper. Moisten the rim of the glass by using a lemon or lime wedge. Next, turn the glass upside down into the gold or silver sprinkles and twist. Voila! You have a beautifully gilded glass. After pouring the drink into the gilded glass, feel free to sprinkle additional edible gold or silver into the beverage. One may also mix the gold/ with salt or sugar ½ and ½ for a variation

Prices range from $24 for 4 Leaves of 23K gold leaves or $20 for a booklet of 12 silver leaves.

Source: http://www.easyleafproducts.com/