Dust Cake Decorations with a Hint of Gold

1. Lay the decorations to be gold-dusted onto a sheet of wax paper or a clean surface, spacing them apart evenly. Wax paper is good to use in case of over-spill -- simply fold the paper in half and pour the spillage back into the canister to reuse.

2. Dust the decorations with the gold powder with a small food-grade brush. You can also sprinkle the powder over them or dab them into a small quantity of gold powder poured onto the wax paper. If you do not want the whole item dusted -- for instance, you only want to dust the leaf of a marzipan apple -- use your fingertip to apply the gold powder to that particular area. If you are using hard items like chocolate pencils, you can sprinkle the gold powder into a box with a lid and shake the pencils in it for an even coating.

3. Add the gold-dusted decorations to your cake. Be sure that all excess gold powder has been shaken off so it does not transfer to other areas of your cake.

Gold-Dusting Cake Icing

1. Pour icing into a mixing bowl.

2. Sprinkle gold powder over the entire surface of the icing instead of adding it in one lump in the center for easier blending. It is best to start with smaller amounts -- you can always add more, but cannot take it out.

3. Mix icing and gold powder with a mixing spoon until blended well. If you need to add more gold powder, do so, and continue mixing until blended.

4. Apply icing to cake using a pastry spatula. Make sure that you have an even layer of icing all around the cake and on the top. You should not be able to see the cake through the icing.

5. Add your gold-dusted decorations, if you have any.