Baking with edible gold

I think an entire cake covered with gold foil would be way over-the-top. I have used gold dust mixed with alcohol to paint fondant and gumpast decorations for cakes. You might consider just making a "5" and "0" out of fondant, gum paste, pastilliage, etc. and gilding that.

I'll second that notion. Just because it's not toxic doesn't mean I want to eat it in quantity. Or actually, at all. That's the type of thing I'd pick off and set aside.

If you have any amalgam fillings, you have far more to fear from having them in your mouth than gold, especially the amount of gold that ends up on a cake.

Which is to say, basically nothing to fear. the gold is non-reactive - your amalgam fillings will react with aluminum.

I was thinking more from a design standpoint. In my opinion, a fully gilded cake would be tacky unless you were Liberace.

Then again.. if you're wanting to use the entire sheet for the birthday.. why not make other things with it, besides the cake? Use a modest amount on the cake.. I liked Vox's suggestion.. then make other things as well.. I've never baked with it.. but what about decorating some cookies or some such, for people to take home? lucy

Like I said, just because it's not toxic doesn't mean I want to eat it. I know gold won't hurt me, but that doesn't mean I want it in my food. If someone want to give me gold, they can buy jewelry or something.

I think everyone's got a list of things that they don't care to eat, ranging from "wouldn't choose it at a buffet" all the way to "would likely spit it out, even in polite company."

For me, that list includes coconut, raisins, and metal, among other things. It's like those edible paper labels they put on apples and other fruit. I peel them off. Some people eat them. I know they won't hurt me, but I don't like eating them, and at my age, I'm allowed to NOT eat something if I don't want to.

Edible gold may not actually be chemically gold, just like most gold paint isn't chemically gold. Whether it's reactive or digestible is not easy to tell without knowing more about what it is.

Indian sweets sometimes use gold leaf and silver leaf, which I thought were actual metal, though maybe they've been replaced by something cheaper now. Still, an Indian grocery might be a good place to try if only smaller pieces are wanted.

Edible gold may not actually be chemically gold, just like gold paint usually isn't chemically gold. Whether it's reactive or digestible is not easy to tell without knowing more about what it is.

I see that the gold leaf mentioned in the OP is 23 carat, with the remaining carat being silver. They make a point of not using copper.

Indian sweets sometimes use gold leaf and silver leaf, which I thought were actual metal, though maybe they've been replaced by something cheaper now. So an Indian grocery might be a good place to try for smaller pieces.