Edible glitter substitutes

The closest thing in both effect and use, giving a satin pearl sheen rather than distinct sparkling flecks. Brushed on dry it looks polished and expensive, and it covers curved surfaces such as fondant and chocolate more evenly than flakes do. What changes is the character of the shine: a smooth glow instead of individual glints.

Best for

fondant and gum paste, chocolate decorations, macarons, wedding and celebration cakes

Mix it with a few drops of clear grain alcohol or lemon extract to paint solid metallic areas, which is far more opaque than dry brushing. Never mix it with water, which dissolves the sugar surface underneath.

Real crystals that genuinely sparkle, and completely unambiguous as food. Clear or white coarse sugar gives an icy glitter effect, and crushed clear rock candy gives larger glassy shards that throw more light. The trade-off is grain size: these read as sugar crystals close up rather than fine glitter, and they add a definite sugary crunch.

Best for

cookie and cupcake tops, cake sides, glass rims, icy or winter themed decorating

Sift out any powder after crushing so it does not dissolve into wet patches. You can color coarse sugar yourself by shaking it in a jar with a drop of gel food coloring and drying it on a plate.

Vivid colored sparkle with real gloss, because hard candy is glassy rather than matte. It looks striking on frosted cookies and cocktail rims and costs almost nothing. It brings its own flavor, usually fruit or mint, and it turns sticky within a few hours as it absorbs moisture, so it is a decorate-and-serve option rather than something to make ahead.

Best for

decorated cookies eaten the same day, cocktail and mocktail rims, ice cream sundaes, holiday bakes with candy canes

Crush inside a folded towel and sift, keeping the shards and discarding the dust. Do not add these to batter, since hard candy melts into hard puddles and holes.

Genuinely edible pure metal leaf, used for centuries on confectionery, and the most convincing metallic finish available. It is flavorless and weightless and looks extraordinary on a single chocolate, a truffle or the top of a cake. It is also expensive, extremely fiddly, since it clings to anything slightly damp including your fingers, and it gives a solid metallic patch rather than scattered sparkle.

Best for

individual chocolates and truffles, a focal point on a cake, plated desserts, cocktails

Handle it with dry tweezers or a dry brush and never with bare fingers. Buy leaf sold for food use, since imitation leaf marketed for gilding furniture contains copper and other metals and is not food.

Worth stating clearly: glitter is optional in every recipe it appears in. Nothing about the bake depends on it. A drizzle of melted white chocolate, a dusting of powdered sugar or cocoa through a stencil, or a scatter of sprinkles all give visual interest and read as intentional rather than unfinished.

Best for

when the only glitter available is not edible, dye-free and additive-free baking, anything for very young children

If a themed cake really needs to sparkle, coarse sanding sugar and edible shimmer spray are both stocked in most supermarket baking aisles and are unambiguously food.

Craft glitter is plastic film or metal foil, and a large share of the ultra-sparkly dust sold to cake decorators as disco dust or hi-lighter dust is labelled non-toxic or for decorative use only, meaning it is not approved as a food ingredient. It is not digestible and has no business on something being eaten. If it is already on a cake, remove the decorated element rather than serving it.

Best for

nothing edible

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings about decorative glitters and dusts being used on food. The test is simple: the label of edible product lists food ingredients and says edible, while non-food product says only non-toxic.