A New York City restaurant in Brooklyn is offering a 24 carat gold donut with a $100 price tag. The high-priced pastry includes a layer of gold flakes, ube (purple yam), Cristal champagne icing, and an ube mousse/champagne jelly filling.
The gold-covered donut is being offered by the Filipino restaurant named Manila Social Club in the Williamsburg neighborhood. Sweet ube is the main ingredient of the eatery's most popular dishes.
Manila Social Club introduced an ube donut that it calls the Golden Cristal Ube Donut. Besides champagne and purple yams, it also includes a 24K gold leaf and gold dust, according to Geek.
The eatery's founder and Executive Chef Bjorn De La Cruz developed the fancy pasty. Each doughnut costs $100.
Originally the gourmet donut was made as a limited-edition menu item, according to ABC7-NY. However, the dish became so popular that it became a permanent item sold at the restaurant, with some customers ordering a dozen donuts.
The donuts are safe to eat because pure gold is non-toxic. However, an exception is if a person has a gold allergy.
Although the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not ruled on edible gold, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not include it in its list of toxic substances. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has given the green light for adding gold to food.
Geek points out that non-edible gold can be very toxic and includes chemicals that could make people sick if they ate many donuts. One example is copper.
Other restaurants have also made new dishes using precious metals. Bombay Brasserie in the United Kingdom has developed a Samundari Khazana curry with a $2,900 price tag, likely making it the world's most expensive seafood dish. It features a Scottish lobster covered in gold, sea snails, crab, quail eggs, and caviar.
Meanwhile, the world's most expensive dessert is from Serendipity 3 in New York City. Its $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate includes a mix of ice, milk, cocoa, and 5 grams of 24-karat gold. It is topped with gold-filled whipped cream, and is served with a solid-gold spoon in a diamond-covered gold cup.