Snowy Edible Glitter Cocktail Glass Garnish

Want to know how I made the snowy glass rim on the Merry and Bright cocktail?  It was edible glitter!

Not the super-sparkly, non-toxic disco dust used in cake decorating, but instead, the delicate, flaky, gum arabic style of edible glitter that has been around for many years.  It's not nearly as sparkly as disco dust, but it looks SO much like snow, and was absolutely perfect for rimming the edge of the glass on my Christmas cocktail.

To make a snowy, edible cocktail glass rim, you'll need:

• old fashioned edible glitter for cake decorating
• vodka
• glass
• small plate

Spread the edible glitter on a small plate.  I used a very small soy-sauce dish, but you can use any plate.  A small plate like this just contains the glitter nicely when you're making more than one rimmed glass.

Dip the rim of the glass in vodka, then dip the wet rim of the glass in the edible glitter.  Vodka works better than water, because it evaporates more quickly.  There's less chance of dripping, melting, and sticky mess (especially if you're rimming the edge of a glass with sugar).

If you're feeling adventurous, you could even make the edible glitter yourself!  All it takes is gum arabic and water (and some coloring, if you wish).  My grandmother (who was a professional cake decorator of renown in her day) used to make her own edible glitter by combining equal parts (small parts--like 1 teaspoon) of gum arabic and water, brushing on a metal baking sheet, and baking at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until the mixture dried (not long...10 minutes maybe?).  She'd then use a bench scraper to scrape the mixture off of the baking sheet, and it would flake into the edible glitter you can buy.  We still have some of her homemade edible glitter, with the recipe written in her handwriting and taped to the film canister in which she kept it.  

If you'd like to see more of my grandmother's edible icing artwork, I wrote a post about it last year.  Using this old-style edible glitter made me remember her fondly, and I think she would have been charmed with this new use of one of her classic cake decorating supplies.