Colorant pourdre OR hydro 5G

This gold lustre colouring from Patisdécor, the brand distributed by Cerf Dellier in Hénin-Beaumont, northern France, is a very fine powder with a pearly sheen. It is a surface colouring: it does not tint a dough or an icing all the way through, it sits on the finished decoration and gives it a metallic shine. The maker states that it contains no titanium dioxide (E171) and has no taste. To colour a cream or a macaron batter, use a water-soluble colouring instead.

Apply it dry with a small brush kept for food use, on sugar paste, marzipan, pastillage or baked doughs. Half a macaron shell brushed with gold, a moulded chocolate bonbon, the raised details of a wedding cake or the lettering on a sugar paste plaque take on a gold look straight away. Mixed with food-grade alcohol or boiled water, the powder turns into an edible paint for fine lines and patterns. Cerf Dellier also gives an airbrush use, at 2 g of powder for 10 g of food-grade alcohol.

The 5 g jar lasts a long time, since very little is needed. Keep it away from heat and moisture. You will also find it on the shelves of our shop, 58 rue Tiquetonne, Paris.