Sprinkles (also called hundreds and thousands or jimmies) are very small pieces of confectionery used as a decoration or to add texture to desserts—typically cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and some puddings. The candies, which are produced in a variety of colors, are usually too small to be eaten individually.
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Popular terminology for this confection tends to overlap, while manufacturers are more precise with their labeling. What consumers often call "sprinkles" covers several types of candy decorations that are sprinkled randomly over a surface, as opposed to decorations that are placed in specific spots. Sanding sugar; crystal sugar; nonpareils; confetti; silver, gold, and pearl dragées—not to be confused with pearl sugar (which is also sprinkled on baked goods); and hundreds-and-thousands are all used this way, along with a newer product called "sugar shapes" or "sequins." These latter come in a variety of shapes, often flavored, for holidays or themes, such as Halloween witches and pumpkins, or flowers and dinosaurs. Candy cane shapes may taste like peppermint, and gingerbread men like gingerbread cookies.
Sanding sugar is a transparent crystal sugar of larger size than general-use refined white sugar. Crystal sugar tends to be clear and of much larger crystals than sanding sugar. Pearl sugar is relatively large, opaque white spheroids of sugar. Both crystal and pearl sugars are typically used for sprinkling on sweet breads, pastries, and cookies in many countries.
Some American manufacturers deem the elongated opaque sprinkles the official sprinkles. "Ants" are used to describe generic sprinkles on donuts, especially in the Western United States. In British English, these are sugar strands or hundreds-and-thousands (the latter term is often used to refer to the multi-colored [rather than the chocolate] type). In the Eastern United States, sprinkles are often referred to as jimmies. Jimmies are considered to be chocolate and sprinkles to be the multi-colored variety, while the term "jimmies" is used more generically elsewhere.[1]
The sprinkles known as nonpareils in French and American English are tiny opaque spheres that were traditionally white, but that now come in many colors. The sprinkle-type of dragée is like a large nonpareil with a metallic coating of silver, gold, copper, or bronze. The traditional almond dragées (confetti in Italian) are not sprinkles, although they are sprinkled on people at weddings and other celebrations. The food-sprinkle dragée is now also made in a form resembling pearls.
Toppings that are more similar in consistency to another type of candy, even if used similarly to sprinkles, are usually known by a variation of that candy's name—for example, mini-chocolate chips or praline.
Nonpareils date back at least to the late 18th-century, if not earlier. French confectioners may have named them for being "without equal" as delicate decoration for pièces montées and desserts.
The candy company Just Born cites its founder, Sam Born, as inventing the "chocolate" sprinkles called "jimmies" (which may never have contained any chocolate) in Brooklyn NY.[2][3]
Dutch hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles) was first invented in 1936 by Gerard de Vries for Venz,[4] a Dutch company made popular by said treat. Hagelslag is used on bread. Most of the time butter is spread out so the hagelslag does not fall off. Several letters to Venz from a five-year-old boy, H. Bakker, asking for a chocolate bread topping, inspired and prompted de Vries' development of sprinkles. After much research and venture, de Vries and Venz created the first machine to produce the tiny cylindrical treats. They were named "Hagelslag" after their resemblance to a weather phenomenon prominent in the Netherlands, hail. Only hagelslag with a cacao percentage of more than 35 can bear the name chocolat hagelslag. If the percentage is under the 35%, it has to be called cacao fantasy hagelslag.
Sanding sugar has been commercially available in a small range of colors for decades. Now it comes in a wide variety, including black, and metallic-like "glitter."
The origin of the name "jimmies" is unknown. It is first documented in 1930, as a topping for cake and although this may in fact be an error, the term "jimmies" became a popular name for sprinkles.[5]
Though the Just Born Candy Company claims to have invented jimmies and named them after an employee,[6] this is unlikely.[7][8] The rumor that the name somehow refers to Jim Crow is also likely false.[7][9][10]
Sprinkles generally require frosting in order to stick to the desired food surface. They can be most commonly found on smaller confections such as cupcakes or frosted sugar cookies, as these generally have more frosting and smaller diameter than do cakes.
In the Netherlands, chocolade hagelslag is used as a sandwich topping (similar to muisjes and vlokken); this is also common in Belgium and Indonesia, once a colony of the Netherlands.[11] These countries also use vruchtenhagel and anijshagel (made of sugar and fruit/anise-flavour respectively) on sandwiches (mainly at breakfast).
Fairy bread is the name given to the children's treat of sprinkles or nonpareils on buttered white bread. Fairy bread is commonly served at children's parties in Australia and New Zealand.
A dessert called confetti cake has sprinkles mixed with the batter, where they slowly dissolve and form little colored spots, giving the appearance of confetti. Confetti cakes are popular for children's birthdays in the United States. The Pillsbury Company sells its own variation known as "Funfetti" cake, incorporating a sprinkle-like substance into the mix.[12]
