Gold Fondant

* 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
* 1/4 cup cold water
* 1/2 cup glucose
* 2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
* 1 tablespoon Glycerin

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* 8 cups (about 2 lbs.) confectioners' sugar, sifted
* Gold or other food coloring as desired or use gold dust food powder
* flavoring as desired

Combine gelatin and water; let stand for three minutes to thicken. Place gelatin mix on top of a water bath or double boiler; heat, and stir until th emixture until the gelatin is dissolved.

Mix glucose in well then stir in shortening.

Remove from heat just before shortening is completely melted. Add glycerin, flavoring and color. Cool until lukewarm.

Place 4 cups confectioner's sugar in large bowl. Make a well; pour glycerin mix into well. Mix with a wooden spoon. Gradually add remaining confectioner's sugar until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar until mixture is smooth, pliable and doesn't stick to your hands. Fondant can be used immediately or stored in a cool dry place. If storing fondant for more than one week, refrigerate. Do not freeze. Allow fondant to return to room temperature before using and knead until soft. Yields 36 ounces.

To get that gold tint in fondant, buy some edible gold platinum dust. Roll your fondant into a ball and sprinkle with the dust. Knead dough until color is evenly dispersed. If you want a more pronounced gold color, just add more dust. Gold is an inert metal and is edible. It is added to some liquers to make them sparkle.

To use on cakes, sprinkle some cornstarch on a clean, flat surface and roll fondant out with a rolling pin until it is 1/4 inch thick. With your hands, carefully lift it by its underside and drape over the cake. Use a cake smoother to smooth it out and trim off excess fondant with a sharp knife.

Don't like waste? You can use the excess fondant to make flowers. Roll the fondant into a ball and add some more gold dust to make a more prominent gold hue. Roll out the fondue again, aiming for a more triangular shape. Use the sharp knife to cut 1-inch by 5-inch strips. Run some water over your finger and run it lengthwise along the bottom edge of the fondant. Roll the fondant loosely into a cone shape, pinching the bottom of the cone and letting the top form freely. To attach to the cake, attach a small, circular piping tip to a piping bag. Mix some gold dust and yellow food coloring with some white icing. Put icing in piping bag. Squeeze some icing onto a flower nail and carefully attach the base of the fondant flower to the flower nail. The icing will help the flower adhere to the nail. Insert the nail, with flower attached, into the cake. Repeat until you have attached as many flowers as you want to the cake. You can use any remaining icing to write a message on top of the cake, so be sure to save room.