Sprinkles

Who doesn’t love sprinkles? Any treat topped with adorably tiny and colorful sprinkles brings a smile to my face. I love finding novelty sprinkles around holidays—little ghosts for Halloween, pastel bunnies and flowers for spring, pink and red hearts for Valentine’s Day. But the sprinkles section in the baking aisle can be overwhelming, albeit mesmerizing. The labels make no sense—what’s a quin? How do you even pronounce “nonpareils”? Are they all style and no substance? I did some research: turns out, there’s more to sprinkles than meets the eye! — Your classic, all-American sprinkle — When you think of sprinkles, cylindrical jimmies come to mind — Jimmies are everywhere and are usually found in rainbow or chocolate varieties, a favorite topping on ice cream sundaes and donuts — Just Born, the candy company home to/ responsible for Peeps and Mike and Ikes, claims to have invented the chocolate version and the name “jimmies” — Do they serve any real purpose? When did this become the gold ice cream standard?

SANDING SUGAR

— The underappreciated friend—you know these crystal sprinkles exist, but you often forget about their versatility — You’ll typically see these coating sugar cookies, but since larger sanding sugar sprinkles retain their shape in high heat, they’re great for adding a bit of crunch and texture to muffins, scones, and pies

DRAGEÉS

— Shiny, classy, and resembling tiny pearls, these sprinkles live on the edge—the FDA considers silver dragées inedible and only allows for them to be marketed as decoration — You’ll likely find these adorning wedding cakes, but be careful—these may be hard to bite — Fun fact: you can’t buy silver ball dragées in California

QUINS

— Super cheery and youthful but bordering on basic, quins (short for sequins and also known as confetti sprinkles) are flat, matte sugary shapes — These usually appear as multicolored round confetti but can be found in a variety of shapes and sizes such as dinosaurs, cacti, stars, pumpkins, or snowflakes — Don’t taste like anything?

NONPAREILS

— The lively, energetic, can’t-sit-still toddlers of the sprinkle world, tiny, round nonpareils (pronounced “non-pah-rells”) tend to roll everywhere and make a mess of your kitchen counter — Be careful baking with these! Their color will bleed if mixed into cookies or cakes — More often, candies like truffles or SnoCaps are rolled in or topped with nonpareils

SPR LES INK SPR LES INKall style and no substance? BY EMILY TRUONG PHOTOS BY RIA VIEIRA