Star Shaped Edible Glitter: What You're Actually Buying

Is there star-shaped edible glitter? Not in the way most people mean, and the thing you actually found has a name. Small flat stars, hearts and snowflakes are sold as quins, confetti or shaped sprinkles, and they are a sugar confection — typical commercial sprinkle ingredient lists start with sugar, then cornstarch, oil, wax, food dyes and flavoring. Edible glitter is a different product class: a loose mineral pigment in pieces running 50 to 500 microns, a size at which a cut star would read as a speck rather than a star. The two fail differently, which is why people blame the wrong one. Sugar shapes soften, can bleed color into wet icing, and will not survive being stirred into a drink. Pigment glitter does not dissolve, adds no flavor, and is built to stay suspended in liquid. In this episode: - The one test that settles it: is this going on something wet and stirred? - Why we say plainly that we do not make a shaped product - The middle path — sprinkles for the silhouette, glitter for the light, on the same cupcake - The per-serving math that shows buying both is not buying double - The label check that applies to either product Who should skip it: if the shape is the point — a star, a heart, something a 4-year-old will name out loud — buy the sprinkles. Glitter cannot do that. The MONÉGASQUE Iridescent Butterfly 10 g drink glitter is on Amazon with its full ingredient list printed on the jar — about $15; check the listing for current pricing. Full transcript on the episode page. New questions answered every week at The Monégasque Table.