How to Make Gold Icing…and Silver Too!
Lustre dust…sparkly magic powder with the power to give plain royal icing a beautiful metallic sheen.
Lustre dust comes in tiny little pods like these. At over three dollars for just two grams, it might seem a bit pricey…but trust me a little bit goes a long way.
I’ve tried about every goldish color of lustre dust on the market and after experimenting with all of them, I am particularly fond of Golden Bronze, Super Gold, Old Gold, and my all-time fave, Aztec gold .
To apply simply mix a small amount of powder with Everclear, vodka, or alcohol-based flavoring and paint on with a brush. Use a smaller brush for more delicate work and a wider brush to cover larger areas.
Sometimes it takes more than one coat to get the best coverage.
If you’re still not getting the desired effect, try changing the color of the base icing.. Here are the colors above swatched on a white and yellow base. In my experience, using colored icing under less intense shades seems to give them a little boost. Darker shades provide pretty good coverage no matter what’s underneath.
Left to right: Golden Bronze, Aztec Gold, Super Gold, Old Gold
I have a few favorite silver shades also. Nu silver is a bright, true silver. Silver foliage has a greenish tint and moonstone is almost a pewtery hue.
Because I love y’all, I swatched the silver colors too. The top example is on a white base, while the bottom is on gray.
When I use lustre dust I work out of tiny dishes like these.
Because it’s too expensive to waste I simply leave it out until all of the alcohol has evaporated. When it is dry it looks like this.
I keep it in a box with the rest of my colors until I am ready to use it again. I’m sure there’s probably a better way, but if I wasn’t a little disorganized I wouldn’t be me. The point is, you can paint out of the same pot indefinitely. Just add more liquid.
Oh yes, and for those of you wondering how I paint so perfectly, here’s my secret. I DON’T! At the risk of embarrassing myself I pointed out every single boo boo I could see.
Since I knew I was going to show off my sloppiness, I was especially careful, co consider this the neat version.
The moral of the story? We’re always much more critical of our own work. Chances are your “huge mistake” probably won’t be noticed by anyone else. If you make a huge goof, eat it, put it on the bottom of the pile, or cover it with a flower or something.
If you plan on covering a large surface area it is probably best to use an airbrush or color mist spray. You can read about that and more HERE.
If you want to learn more about lustre dust check out these helpful links:
- Make Your Cookies Shine {this includes explanations on dry application and aerosol mists}
- More Ways to Make Gold Royal Icing via Baking In Heels
- {Video} How to Apply Lustre Dust via Bake at 350
- Hand-painted Valentine’s Day Cookies via Glorious Treats
If you’d like to buy lustre dust Country Kitchen Sweet Art and Global Sugar Art both have great selections. They also carry lustre spray which I mentioned before HERE.
*Keep in mind that although these dusts are non-toxic, they are for decorative use only and should not be considered a food product. In other words, they probably wont kill you, but it’s probably not smart to eat a pod of lustre dust. Opinions on the matter vary. My advice is to use at your discretion. If baking for the public, check with your client before decorating just to be sure. You might also try FDA approved platinum dusts. The colors are limited, but they can often be used in place of lustre dust to achieve the same effect.
*Alcohol based products are the best way to apply lustre dust. Even flavoring extracts have alcohol in them. If this is not an option for you, I suggest bypassing wet application altogether. Water does not work.
Love love love your tips and tricks! Thank you so much for sharing.
Keeping my fingers crossed that you’ll take on my cabbage patch doll (face) challenge that I emailed 🙂
I may be short on time with summer coming…but have you seen this amazing post by Semi-Sweet Mike? http://www.semisweetdesigns.com/2013/04/04/throwback-thursday-cabbage-patch-kids-cupcakes/
I just wanted to add, I do the same technique for saving dusts, except I use the lid of the dust container to mix and paint from, I leave it off and when it’s dry I put it back on. Then when I need loose dust, it’s in the container, but I can flip the lid, add alcohol and I’m ready to paint. Another tip: I picked up a small dropper bottle in the art dept. of Hobby Lobby and I keep my everclear in it. This way I can easily control the amount of alcohol I add to the lid, instead of it sloshing out of the big bottle….or maybe that happened for another reason….. LOL Thanks for sharing! Love your work!
Genius tip about painting out of the lids. I am going to do that from here on out. I use a medicine dropper to add Everclear. I should probably add that to the post. Thanks for reminding me =)
Awesome! 🙂 I do use the tiny bowls you use, but I use those for straight food color to paint, usually zebra stripes on fondant. 😉 I love the tiny bowls! Hey, thanks for sharing all that you do. Now I’m hooked on cookies.
LOL! Come on over to the dark side 😉
Bless you for pointing out your mistakes. You are so right about how we’re always more critical of our own mistakes. Thanks for putting yourself out there.
I really appreciate you taking the time to show us swatches. With all the many choices of lustre dust out there and them being on the pricey side, it is so nice to see examples of what some would look like on a cookie. I would normally pick one type of gold dust and hope it turns out as expected. Thanks for taking some of the guess work out of it!
LOL. It’s our secret indugence as cookiers. Try the lustre dust, LOL. We won’t tell 😉
Ah-ha….so you are a night owl. Good to know. Do you have any tutorials for your roses? I’ve been messing around with them lately and have watched Ali B’s and Loren’s (The Baking Sheet) awesome tutorials, but yours are a little more swirlier (pretty sure that is not a word).
PS: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your tutorials and knowledge sharing!!!
Okay, totally embarrassed. Just saw your post on swirl roses two seconds ago. Sorry!
Don’t even be embarrassed for asking. I will post a tuto on those specific roses in a day or three =)
This post is so useful!! I’ve been planning on jumping into brush embroidery and trying out some silver lustre dust. The swatches are great and the explanation of the boo-boo’s is encouraging as I totally beat myself up over mistakes (I’m getting better at letting them go though 🙂
As usual, fantastic post Callye!
Thank you for the wonderful tips, Callye!! You are the best!! I tried some lustre dust recently to paint the gold anchor for the US Navy Chief cookies and I had so much fun!! I actually kept mine in the tiny containers that I got from the dollar store, 10 in a pack, can’t beat that!! Now, it’s time for bed and some sweet cookie dreams!!
Oh gosh! Your gold is SO gold! And so perfect! I loved this set when you shared them. The writing is perfect and the gold just pops right out! I have a GIANT pile of dust and always forget/am too lazy to use it! I need to spend more time learning to use my cookie products!
Thanks for the great post!
I’d been using lemon extract for my luster dust for a while, but when covering a whole cookie with dust, I didn’t like the lemony taste it left, so I bit the bullet and bought a bottle of vodka. Out of curiosity, I did an experiment similar to your swatches of color, using the same luster dust with vodka and lemon extract. I found that with the lemon extract, the luster dust is a truer, solid, shiny silver or gold (the only two I tried this with), and the vodka provides a slightly grittier shine. Now I know what to use when I want one or the other. Two colors in one! For this batch, I ended up using the lemon extract for the silver necklaces, and the vodka for the gold dresses which had a sheer top layer that the vodka helped emulate beautifully, while the lemon extract made them too shiny: http://www.curtainupcookies.com/2013/04/opening-night-assembled-parties.html
Just thought I’d share my fun findings 🙂 I only wish I’d taken a picture of the swatch cookies before my family ate them! Oops!
This is really useful to know – I’ve been frustrated by not being able to get smooth shiny metallic finishes lately; it all seems gritty yet when I first started using lustre dusts I knew I’d had some lovely smooth results. I’ve switched from using extracts to vodka, to avoid adding the flavour. I shall switch back now I know the reason! Thank you!
Lucy
I think the lemon extract is shinier because of the very tiny amount of oil of lemon in the extract. It definitely has an effect. Lovely work, Curtain Up!
I found these plastic mini cups w/ lids at Wal-Mart for just a few bucks…
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/04/14/26/80/0004142680001_500X500.jpg
They’re intended for toting salad dressing or kiddie snacks around, but they work perfectly for making paint w/ dusts, AND you can save the dried paint, completely covered!
As always your tips are great!!!! thanks for sharing them!!! greetings from Madrid!
I have a recipe to make piping consistency gold or silver colours
Half teas gold or silver colour
2.5 MLS vodka ( I’m sorry I don’t know the imperial measure)
5mls piping jelly
Add enough icing sugar to get the piping consistency you need
This may help avoid any “error” when painting over the top of icing, no matter how much time and care you take
Good luck. From
Robyn in Oz
Such a beautiful metallic effect! I can’t believe what a large collection of luster dust you have, Callye! Oh wait, maybe I can 🙂
Thank you for pointing out all your boo-boos. Sometimes we are out own worst critics and it’s good to be reminded that we’re not cookie decorating robots.
Lol, just call me the BOO BOO queen, Janine! HA! That rhymes!
I love all your cookies and tips…but I especially love when you point out your boo boos because it gives me hope 😉
I have everything you have pictured but the tiny dishes,. NEED
Crate and Barrel or Pier One Landa-lish!
Hello,
Do you ever just add the gel colour to the icing? I recently purchased gold and silver from Americolor but haven’t used them as of yet.
I don’t think that americolor makes a metallic gold and silver in gel color. To get the metallic look you either have to use airbrush sheen, lustre, or edible paint. As far as I know there is not a shiny add in.
I’m glad you shared this tip. I figured it out one night when my silver just was NOT cutting it. I especially appreciate the comparison cookies. That really does help show the color differences!
One other note for anyone looking for a super-shiny finish. You can use Confectioner’s Glaze (I cut mine with vodka) and mix the color right into it. HOWEVER: you can’t save what’s left, as the glaze will dry hard as a rock and ruin your brush and bowl if you don’t catch it immediately. Ask how I know this. But as long as you wash your bowl/brush with vodka or everclear immediately after use it’s a great look!
Still in awe of your work…
Fantastic post and the cookies are gorgeous!
Thanks, M!
Lovely!! thanks for sharing. Your cookies are perfect!! But it is true, we are more critical of our own work! I think you should be proud of it 🙂 🙂
xx
Vicky
You are deliriously talented and a gift to what we do. 🙂 (you do it better than most, however 🙂
I found these little glass jars at Michaels (http://www.michaels.com/Glass-Jars-.75-fl-oz-4pk/fa2188,default,pd.html?cgid=products-artsupplies-paintingaccessories-miscellaneous&start=2))
They have lids, so when I’m done, I just close em up and move on. Sometimes they are buried enough in my drawer that when I pull em back out, the liquid hasnt evaporated yet. Works like a charm! Thanks for all of your work and inspiration!
I need some of these!
Wow! This is so great to have a visual of each shade of the golds and silvers. Thanks so much. Have you ever tried a dampened q-tip (in vodka) to wipe off the boo boo’s? It works well, as long as it’s not to wet with vodka. Thanks for another great lesson!
What a great idea. Filed in my brain!
I love seeing your boo boos! 🙂 I’m so clumsy with a paintbrush, I always get some where it is not supposed to be. I’m glad I’m not alone!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m new to cookie art, and I’ve spent hours already on your site, soaking up all your helpful posts — and I’ve only scratched the surface!
Video tutorials, pictures, instructions — love it all. In fact, the last few times I’ve been mixing up and coloring icings, I hear your voice in my head, southern drawl and all 😉 I also want to say that I was getting so discouraged last week, as my technique hasn’t yet caught up to the pictures in my head … But I remembered your recent post of the Christmas cookies you did years ago and how far you’ve come. I took a deep breath and felt better 🙂
I’ve got my everclear and even have tried it on buttercream after it crusted. It worked but I had to be oh so gentle! 🙂 And after a swig of everclear it’s hard to be gentle! 🙂 Your work is always so beautiful!!
Have you ever tried the Wilton brand of this I can’t remember the name if it. Just wondering if the CK is superior.
Wilton is fine, CK and global sugar art just have more colors. I’m a fan of Wilton products. They’re really available and a great place to start.
wow. beautiful (as always)!
You are the best Cookie Mentor EVER! I love how you show samples so we don’t have to do quite as much experimenting! Gray or gold icing dots with a touch of lustre dust gold or silver paint make fast, easy & worry free fake dragees. Here’s another source for small bowls http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-192823/Duralex-Lys-Clear-Stackable-Bowls
Leaving the paint to dry in the bowls and storing them is perfect. A drop or two of Everclear and off you go!
Note: forgot to mention the 1.2 oz size bowls at the link above are great for lustre dust paint and holding small quantities of anything
Thanks for sharing, Barbara!
I just got home with 2 new colors of the stuff…I was thinking of an idea and thought why not! I am def going to paint it on a sample cookie to see what I have!
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I have been LOVING Luster Dust lately, It adds such a pretty touch, especially to my Mr. T 80’s cookies. His gold chains wouldn’t have been the same without it!
Thank you for all you do Sugarbelle, LOVE reading your blog everyday!
Hahaha! Show me!!!
So so beautiful! I can never make my gold and silver to look so concentrated.
I love lustre dust but it never looks that great when I’m done using it! Like, I’ve never been able to achieve that smooth finish like on your swatches. It seems to be gritty and eat away the top layer of my icing. What am I doing wrong?
What are you using to apply it? Vodka? Everclear? You may need more liquid in it. Also maybe thinner coats. It’s like nailpolish. Sometimes two thinner coats produce a much smoother finish than one heavy coat.
I have used both extracts and vodka. I add what I think it just enough liquid to mix it and then I dab off the excess on my brush. I find that it evaporates really quickly too and then the lustre dust mixture gets clumpy and then I need to add more liquid…is that part normal?
Yes. When I paint its completely liquid. Add more, that should help you. Think nail polish. New polish is very liquid and just sweeps on. Old sticky polish leaves clumps and a bumpy icky finish and NEVER dries 🙂
Great post! I was wondering if you could do a post on how darker colors dye your mouth (amongst other things that are a bit gross to mention…) and how to handle the situation with customers. I always warn clients that dark colors will dye your mouth and then they tend to stay away from it. It’s a bummer sometimes because it limits what you can do on your cookie but it also avoids embarrassing moments for your clients and their guests. But you do see a lot of baked goods out there that are all black or blue and you wonder if it is a big deal to those people eating it. Maybe you know of a technique that can eliminates this problem or can come up with one and be a cookie hero once again! Thanks!
Loling at the “other things” I know exactly what happens when kids eat blue cookies 😉 I just warn them, that’s all you can do. Some care, some don’t. It’s especially important for formal events. I ALWAYS try to deter dark cookies at weddings.
Okay, thanks for the quick reply! I just tried making your chips and salsa cookies and I posted a pic on your facebook! They are delicious (and a nice little break from using RI). Also, I don’t want to name drop or anything but someone who bought cookies from you a while back bought some from me for an event a few months ago and I felt so honored that someone who bought from the best of the best would buy from me. Such a great feeling. It was very stressful to live up to such high expectations but a wonderful experience overall. 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. You responded to one of my comments in your previous post about which gold luster dust you use, and I was planning to do some experimenting to find out which background icing color would work best, but your post has done that for me! Thanks so much. Beautiful cookies!
Great post Callye, thanks. I love lustre dust, but there was just one thing I didn’t agree with in your post. You said that if people can’t use alcohol it’s best not to bother with lustre dust at all, and I would just like to qualify that: I think you’re absolutely right about using it in its liquid form (eg on raised piping as you did here), but I wouldn’t discount its value when used dry, straight out of the pot. I find it goes on much nicer dry if you’re wanting to cover a large area, and it also gives a different look: more shimmery. Dry is actually how I use it most of the time.
Thanks for demonstrating the swatches for us – some of those colours are beautiful, and it can sometimes be hard deciding which to buy without having seen them in use!
Can you talk about what paint brushes are safe to use? I have used Wilton brushes but it drives me nuts when the hairs fall out. Is it safe to use regular paint brushes? I have also used kid safe crayons brushes but they are sometimes too fluffy for icing uses.
Love the idea of leaving the luster dust in the little dishes…I always clean mine out, but will not going forward thanks to *you* 🙂
What font did you use for “mom”!?
I modified this font, Blessed Angel http://www.fontspace.com/billy-argel/blessed-day
Love your blog for many years! Maybe somebody already mentioned this. But I just add a little of the powder and the alcohol (vodka) into the lid of the yarr. And what’s left, I let dry and put the lid back on. Nothing is wasted. Happy cake kisses from The Netherlands xxx
Hi Sugar Belle,
You are an inspiration to me, and to all of us who love your blog.
Thanks for sharing with us your successes as well as those “slight” imperfections. We all need to know that even the “best” have times where things are not coming out like the mind envisions.
Here’s my question. Did you freehand the word “Mom” or, did you use a Koppy Kake?
If you free handed it, then I will have the courage to freehand as well. I think you did a really nice job on that cookie.
Also, I am going to buy ALL those golds that you said were your faves as I LOVE all the gold variations.
***YOU ARE ONE OF MY COOKIE HEROS!
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Your website is absolutely amazing and very informative. thank you so much for sharing
Great idas!!! thank you!! What shape are these cookies? Love it, and can’t find a cookie cutter like that.
Thanks!
Hello,
I love these cookies. I wanted to know what is the consistency you have used to write on the cookie and what is the font, please. Simply love it!
I want to know how you get the lids off these things!! I have a box of these pesky bottles and cant ever get the tops off to use them!
The easiest way is to use a beer bottle opener, the ones with a flat edge.
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Thank you for sharing! Your cookies do always look Perfect! It’s good to know you too get some oops! 😉
Love your work.
LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS, LOL!
Thank you so much for sharing!! My daughter is getting married this summer & wants me to make her cookies!…I need ALL the help I can get! You are generous & I am very grateful!
Thanks for this blog post! Quick question…can I try for the same effect using Wilton pearl dust??
Unfortunately this lustre is non-toxic, meaning it is not edible but it won’t poison you! It’s like giving a child a crayon to chew on. Yuk.
There are plenty of other lustres that are edible. Try Rainbow dusts.
a lil’ vodka on a q-tip takes all those little mistakes away. and it stays shiny
Looks really very nice
Thank you for another informative post. I got a few pots of lustre dust for a birthday present last year and have had no idea how to use them. Now I’ll have to give them a proper try 🙂
Couldn’t you use a little vodka on a small brush and take away the boo boo s? If it works for smudges on fondant, which it does, perhaps it’ll work on a cookie frosting? Worth a go I’d say!
I love the tips and tricks, and honesty :). You are the best!
Thanks,
Roula
I really love all of yours secrets and tips, all of them are very usefull for me. I am new in this art of cookie decoration!!
Regards!
Are you able to use this to color icing? If not, do you have any suggestions on how to make silver icing happen?
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Do you taste the alcohol when you mix the dust with it?
Hi, thanks for the great post. I was wondering if you can use these dusts to paint on to buttercream icing that’s been refrigerated so it is set hard? I’m making a gold cake for a friend’s birthday and I’ve only ever made buttercream cakes.
My solution for butter cream is Wilton icing coloring spray. About $3-$4 a can, tales one to cover a 6-8″ round cake. But it turns out awesome! Spray on once you have finished icing the cake 🙂 hope this helps!
Is there a way to make metallic royal icing to pipe directly rather than pain it on afterward?
I love the cookie cutter, where can I find one?
Awesome article, I really like how you show us each different type of gold and silver. Very helpful, thanks a lot!
??sabrina
P.S.: Nobody would have noticed if you hadn’t pointed out your little mishaps. 😉
loveeeee this all
The tuitions for making flowers out of royal icing is excellent. Thank you soo much. Can these flowers be used to decorate cakes?
Love the cookies! I am trying to cover a fondant chalice with gold foil? Or world gold glaze be better? Thank you linda
Is luster dust safe to eat? I read on the label “non toxic” but also not to ingest?
There has been lots of back and fourth about this in the last few years. For a long time we (cookie decorators) didn’t realize that non-toxic and edible are not one in the same, especially since the products were marketed for food items. That said, I’ve never heard of anyone dying from eating luster dust, but to be safe, I would recommend this:http://amzn.to/1Guz4K5
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Omg your creations are fabulous. I love the simplicity of them and class. An idea just popped into mind about another way of keeping the left overs is you could use those travel containers for contact lenses…or left over luster dust containers too.
Hi
So do I put the lustre dust on first then paint on the silver or gold?
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Are the gold and silver luster dusts that you use all food safe? If not, do you have a recommendation of edible ones that work well? I am not a fan of the Wilton gold and silver, as it takes too much of it to get the effect.
I love your post. I critic myself (work) too harsh. Your cookies seemed perfect to me until you pointed out all the mistakes. By me reading this I learned more about myself . Thank you soo much