How do I tint frosting gold?

by M Scheib
(Michigan)

All I want is a little bead trim in gold. Obviously, painting it would be a ridiculous waste of time. Can't I mix gold luster with vodka and mix that into the royal icing?

From the editor:

Hi M,

If you want a true gold, you'll have to do some painting. But, to make it easier, what you can do is tint the royal icing light tan first, then dust with bright gold luster dust. This will give you a better result than dusting white royal icing.

You could try a small test amount of the royal icing with the luster dust mixed in, but I usually find that the icing loses it's luster this way.

Regards,
Michelle (editor)