See cake from Freed's Bakery below... How do they get the gold so realistic? I've used lustre dust before but it never comes out like this!

that's gorgeous!

there are different shades of gold dusts...this one looks like gold sparkle but i cant say for sure..one trick i learned from Nick Lodge is to tint royal icing or gumpaste/fondant a light yellow before painting it with gold. that gives you a more gold gold and if you miss a spot it wont show up as much

Looks like gold gold or old gold. The only way i know to get that color is to mix it with alcohol and paint it on.
It's beautifully done there!

Debbie

You can also mix it with Lemon Extract, althought personally, I dont like the flavor. (Used it for cookies once, never again!)

CK Products has a luster dust called Old Gold, I used it in the green St.
Patty's Day cookies in my photos. I think a key thing is to play around with the constistency. If I water it down too much, it loses some of the sheen and 'real" gold look.

I agree that it almost has to be hand painted with gold luster and vodka.

Hey, I like the idea of coloring the base material yellow...good tip! I'll have to try that...I actually have tinted green before and it DEFINATELY changes the finished color of the gold...I'll be interested in seeing what yellow does.

-Michelle

onceuponacake, I'm jealous of you taking a Nic Lodge class! That's a great tip on the yellow first.

i've used Old Gold and Super Gold on my last three cakes, but it doesn't look like that!! It's so reflective - I thought maybe it was something new I need to have!!!

I've used gold highlighter mixed with vodka and it turned out exactly like the picture. CK sells gold highlighter

I thought gold highlighter was not edible??

Mix 2 parts old gold with 1 part super pearl and then thin with Everclear or alcohol, it will give you a brilliant metallic gold.

I got a recipe from a book called Fantasy Art and Sugar. Its using lemon extract, corn syrup and I use the super gold dust from ck that Global sells. Its thick and consistant and perfect for writing!

What is CK?

I wonder if it's gold leaf?

CK Products is a brand. They make powders, and other cake decorating supplies.
Gold leaf is very delicate to work with and wouldnt be able to get that kind of precision on a cake.

Just thought this may be worth mentioning...

Remember, in today's digital-photo age, pics can be color corrected and Photshopped. That gold may not be as "gold" in person as it looks in the picture. Just keep this in mind before driving yourself crazy trying to replicate it.

good point cookieman!

I also use Shirleys method!! It works great!! Thanks for the tip Shirley!