Sprinkles are ‘crunchy bits of unicorn tears’
cones, pancakes, Rice Krispies treats, fudge, taffy, popcorn, popsicles and even cocktails are now vehicles for confetti sprinkles beyond traditional cookies, cakes, cupcakes and doughnuts. When the Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain marked National Cheesecake Day in July, it celebrated with a new cheesecake featuring layers of Funfetti cake and frosting caked with sprinkles.
Some credit pastry chef Christina Tosi of Milk Bar in New York with igniting a new wave of appreciation when her rainbowsprinkles birthday cake made sprinkles cool again in 2008. They’re photogenic, too, which helps in our Instagram- and Pinterest-fueled world.
“They’re very cheerful. If you add them to almost anything, it makes people happy. Their color screams fun and celebration,” said Rhoda Boone, food director for Epicurious.com. “Sprinkles are a classic, but they definitely feel like they have a moment right now.”
Pastry chef Vanessa O’Donnell, owner of Houston’s Ooh La La Dessert Boutique, doesn’t know why sprinkles, which she calls rainbow nonpareils, are suddenly trendy — “there must be something in the air” — but she’s happy to oblige. Some of her more eyepopping items involving sprinkles include a gelato milkshake, waffle cone and a cheesecake.
In her new cookbook “Erin Bakes Cake,” pastry chef Erin Gardner calls sprinkles “crunchy bits of unicorn tears.” She breaks down sprinkle terminology like this: Sprinkles are “long, thin” bits of sugar, starches and colorings in a thin carnauba wax shell (also called jimmies or sugar strands); nonpareils are tiny, crunchy candy balls; sugar pearls or sugar beads are larger versions of nonpareils used for decorating; and dragees are hard pearls with metallic finishes.
Whatever the term, sprinkles are clearly enjoying their current role as baking and confec- tion darlings. Jucker said sprinkles are so popular that Three Brothers has fulfilled orders for Funfetti wedding cakes and recently introduced a quarter sheet cake covered in nonpareil baby beads.
“We’ve had to up our game because people notice that stuff on the internet. That’s what they want. They want something different — not plain-Jane bakery stuff,” Jucker said. “They want festive, they want happy.”
So are sprinkles here to stay?
Pastry chef Rebecca Masson of Fluff Bake Bar thinks that there might be some sprinkles-crazed over-decorating going on. As someone who has worked extensively with sprinkles — her Unicorn Bait cookies are a top seller — Masson doesn’t spend a lot of time wondering how the trend will pan out.
“Maybe it has just always been in style,” she said, “like a good Chanel bag and a set of pearls.”