As we hope we don’t have to reiterate, diamonds should not be swallowed (though according to this article, doing so is not really that bad for you). Still, there are people who have added diamonds to food, hoping to add some glitz to their meals, and (need we mention) generate publicity:
1. The diamond-covered fruitcake
Fruitcake is perhaps the most disparaged food item of all time. So a Japanese chef probably figured the only way to generate interest in the perennially unpopular pastry was to drizzle 223 diamonds on top of one. The end result is the $1.65 million “world’s most expensive fruitcake”—and while it doesn’t seem to have any Guinness certification for that title, we are guessing there’s not a lot of competition there. The creation, said to be edible (save the diamonds) was displayed at a DTC event in Tokyo, “Diamonds: Nature’s Miracle.”
2. The world’s most expensive dessert (I)
The official Guinness-certified “world’s most expensive desert” is the $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate, a sundae from New York’s Serendipity in conjunction with jeweler Euphoria. To snag this apparently coveted title (see below), it wasn’t enough for the ingredients to consist of 28 cocoas, including 14 of the world’s most expensive, as well as edible 23k gold. The sundae was also served in a gold goblet, whose base included an 18k gold bracelet with 1 ct. t.w. of white diamonds. And it was eaten with a gold spoon laced with white and chocolate-colored diamonds, which can be taken home. 30 Rock paid homage to this creation here.
3. The world’s most expensive dessert (II)
And yet—that may not be the end of the story. One can certainly argue the world’s real “most expensive dessert” is this pudding-type creation, offered by another jeweler/restaurant combo (U.K. retailer Wave Jewellery and nearby Lindeth Howe Country Hotel), which sells for a cool $34,000. In addition to the typical over-the-top ingredients—four different Belgian chocolates, champagne jelly, a light biscuit joconde, and edible gold leaf—this concoction is shaped like a Fabergé egg, and topped off with a 2.62 ct. chocolate diamond and 18k rose gold ring, just to drive the price tag all that much higher. (Wine, a meal, and a night’s stay at the hotel are also included.) Among the buyers was, according to London’s Daily Mail, someone in the diamond business, who bought it as a pick-me-up after getting dumped. He polished it off in 15 minutes—enough time to wonder just what he was doing with his money.
4. The “Diamond Is Forever” martini
In 2007, the people at the Tokyo Tower Ritz-Carlton reportedly decided they wanted a “wow” cocktail for their main lounge to match their “wow” everything else. They settled on the “Diamond Is Forever martini”—an $18,000 drink which, its menu says, consists of “chilled Grey Goose Vodka with a hint of fresh lime juice, stirred or shaken to perfection, over a crystal clear one carat diamond.” (No offense to the vodka and lime juice, but we think the diamond makes up most of the cost there.) According to the video below, if you buy one—and at least two people have—the bar throws in a personal rendition of “Diamonds Are Forever.”
5. The diamond-covered cupcake
In 2009, Washington D.C.–based jeweler Mervin Diamond Importers was trying to add some pizazz to an upcoming trunk show. “I had a client looking at a ring who was in the bakery business,” remembers the store’s director of business development Jonathan Mervis. “I said, ‘Why don’t we make a diamond-covered wedding cake?’ But we realized that would take too many diamonds. So we just did a cupcake because those had become popular. And we ended up with a whole event built around it.” Topped with a 2 ct. Asscher cut and carrying a $30,000 price tag, the red-velvet creation was touted as “the world’s most expensive cupcake,” and brought the store tons of attention, include mentions on cupcake blogs. But it wasn’t really for sale. “No one really wants a diamond-covered cupcake,” admitted Mervis, who later removed the rock and ate the rest himself.
BONUS
Kim Kardashian’s diamond-covered birthday cake and lollipop
Kim Kardashian is known as a great lover of diamonds. But in October 2010, the reality show star reportedly drew the line at the plan to give her a $1 million diamond-covered cake for her 30th birthday, writing on her blog, “I would never allow anyone to spend that much money on a cake. Making a million dollar birthday cake is just ridiculous.” Yet a few months later, Kardashian made suckers of us all, flashing a $1 million diamond lollipop, featuring 280 princess-cut diamonds and an apparently edible inside.
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