golden pears
December 16, 2010 at 9:53 PM 
So, late late the other night I gilded some pears -- ya know, just 'cause I happened to have pears and some gold leaf. I'm quite chuffed with myself over these little beauties. They are quite ravishing. I started with the most darling little Forelle pears -- tiny and perfect. In theory you could gild fruit with edible gold leaf -- the kind they sprinkle on pastries. But Lord knows where you find that stuff. Instead, I went with what I had on hand. I held the stem of each pear, gave it a quick spray with Easy Tack spray adhesive and then used my fingertip to pick up cut up sections of gold leaf that've been sitting around our house for ages. I know it's quite wasteful of me to treat food in this manner but I did it on a whim and now I'm imagining a whole tiered arrangement of gilded fruits -- Lady apples, apricots, kumquats. Can't help myself. I find leafing -- gold or silver -- to be so much more satisfying than painting -- it really seems like magic. Makes we want to run around the house and gold leaf everything...
Reader Comments (8)
Truly reminds me of something you'd see in a fairy tale. So magical.
these are beautiful...I love gold leaf...careful or you won't have any fresh fruit left to eat :)
Oh so charming!!
very pretty not so tasty
PS - if you ever want to try the edible variety... this is a good source http://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=8981&manufacid=0&keyword=edible%20leaf
Oh meeee God what an extraordinary image! T.
I love the photo! ...Found your blog by accident, looking for gilded fruit photos...I had a very similar idea of a photo shoot with golden fruit and veggies :-) I know that gilding can be addictive... I started off with frames, notebooks, then I moved on to furniture, toys and now food :-) Great blog, by the way!
regards
AgaP.
I think I've loved pears since the movie, City of Angels where Meg Ryan describes their taste 'like sugary sand that melts in your mouth'. What a beautiful idea to gild such a curvy and elegant item, it's looks ready for the red carpet... :) I have been painting images of pairs in watercolor and oil for so many years now, I should post a few just for kicks, you've inspired me to create some more... Cheers, Tahani G.