Tiny multi-colored candy topping
Sprinkles
are small pieces of
confectionery
used as an often colourful
decoration
or to add
texture
to
desserts
such as
brownies
,
cupcakes
,
doughnuts
or
ice cream
. The tiny candies are produced in a variety of colors and are generally used as a topping or a decorative element. The
Dictionary of American Regional English
defines them as "tiny balls or rod-shaped bits of candy used as a topping for ice-cream, cakes and other."
Names
[
edit
]
In the
UK
and other
Anglophonic
commonwealth countries
sprinkles are denoted by different signifiers. For example,
hundreds and thousands
is the most popular denotation used in
United Kingdom
,
Canada
,
Australia
,
New Zealand
and
South Africa
to refer to
nonpareils
, a type of sprinkles. Another UK variant of the term is
vermicelli
, especially when said of chocolate sprinkles.
[1]
[2]
This name can be seen borrowed into spoken Egyptian Arabic as
faːrmasil
.
[3]
Jimmies
is the most popular term for chocolate sprinkles in the
Philadelphia
,
Boston
and New England regions.
[4]
The origin of the name
jimmies
is uncertain, but it was first documented in 1930, as a topping for cake.
[5]
The
Just Born Candy Company
of
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
, claims to have invented jimmies and named them after an employee.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Another unlikely claim on the name
jimmies
originates from Dr. Sidney Farber and Edward Brigham. Dr. Farber co-founded the
Dana?Farber Cancer Institute
in Boston, as well as a charity,
The Jimmy Fund
, named after one of his child patients. Brigham opened an ice cream restaurant called
Brigham's
and charged an extra penny for chocolate sprinkles on a cone, which benefited The Jimmy Fund. The fund however, was started in 1948, well after the first historical reference.
[9]
In Connecticut and other places in the U.S., as indicated by including the sense in the official
Merriam-Webster
,
shots
is a specific term for sprinkles.
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
History
[
edit
]
Nonpareils
date back at least to the late 18th century, if not earlier. They were used as decoration for
pieces montees
and desserts.
Dutch
hagelslag
(chocolate sprinkles) were invented in 1913 by Erven H. de Jong from Wormerveer.
[14]
[15]
Venz,
[16]
another Dutch company, made
hagelslag
popular.
Hagelslag
is used on bread and other things made of bread. Most of the time butter is spread out so the
hagelslag
does not fall off. After much research and venture, Gerard de Vries and Venz created the first machine to produce the tiny cylindrical treats.
[17]
They were named
hagelslag
after their resemblance to a weather phenomenon prominent in the Netherlands:
hail
. (This reference is also transferred to the Finnish word for sprinkles, "Koristerakeet" which literally means "decorative hail"). Only
hagelslag
with a cacao percentage of more than 32% can bear the name
chocoladehagelslag
(chocolate sprinkles). If it is lower than 32%, it is to be referred to as
cacaofantasie
or
cacaofantasie hagelslag
(cacao fantasy sprinkles).
The American candy company
Just Born
cites its founder, Sam Born, as inventing the "chocolate" sprinkles called "jimmies" (which might never have contained any chocolate) in
Brooklyn, New York
.
[18]
[19]
However, advertisements for chocolate sprinkles as a confection exist in the United States as far back as 1921,
[20]
predating Just Born by two years.
A related product, 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".
Types
[
edit
]
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.
Nonpareils
,
confetti
, silver, gold, and pearl
dragees
? 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. In
British English
, these are
sugar strands
or
hundreds-and-thousands
(the latter term alludes to their supposed uncountability). In the New England region of
United States
, as well as in Philadelphia, sprinkles are often referred to as jimmies.
[4]
"Jimmies", in this sense, are usually considered to be used as an ice cream topping, while sprinkles are for decorating baked goods, but the term can be used for both.
[21]
The sprinkles, known as
nonpareils
in
French
are tiny opaque spheres that were traditionally white, but that now come in many colors. The sprinkle-type of
dragee
is like a large nonpareil with a metallic coating of
silver
,
gold
,
copper
, or
bronze
. The food-sprinkle dragee 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
.
Uses
[
edit
]
Sprinkles generally require frosting, ice cream, or some other sort of sticky material 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
,
chocoladehagelslag
(chocolate sprinkles) is used as a sandwich topping (similar to
muisjes
and
vlokken
); this is also common in
Belgium
and the former colonies of the Netherlands,
Suriname
and
Indonesia
.
[22]
These countries also use
vruchtenhagel
and
anijshagel
(made of sugar and fruit/anise-flavour respectively) on sandwiches (mainly at breakfast). In Indonesia, it is commonly known as
meses
or
meises
, presumably derived from the Dutch
muisjes
, which are also similar. In Belgium it is often called
muizenstrontjes
(mouse droppings), due to the resemblance.
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.
[23]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Mackley, Lesley; Handslip, Carole (1996).
The Chocolate Book
. Wigston: Salamander. p. 14.
Chocolate vermicelli (sprinkles) are available in milk and semisweet chocolate.
- ^
"vermicelli"
.
Lexico
UK English Dictionary
.
Oxford University Press
. Archived from
the original
on 2020-03-22.
- ^
"????? ??? ??????? ??? ??????"
[Recipe for store-bought donuts].
??? ?????
(in Arabic). 2020-10-10
. Retrieved
2020-10-11
.
Ingredients: ... - powdered sugar - vermicelli - chocolate chips ...
- ^
a
b
"WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPRINKLES AND JIMMIES?"
. Archived from
the original
on 21 December 2016
. Retrieved
12 December
2016
.
- ^
Advertisement for McCann's food store
,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, December 4, 1930, p. 6.
- ^
Just Born Fun Facts
Archived
2014-01-28 at the
Wayback Machine
; see also their
photograph
Archived
2018-08-21 at the
Wayback Machine
of a package of jimmies (on page 4 of their
photo gallery
:
Archived
January 29, 2010, at the
Wayback Machine
), claimed to be from "circa 1930" and showing a trademark symbol.
- ^
David Wilton, Ivan Brunetti,
Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends
, p. 162.
ISBN
0-19-517284-1
- ^
Ben Zimmer, "
Corporate Etymologies
",
The Jimmies Story
",
The Boston Globe
, March 13, 2011
- ^
"
The Jimmies Story
",
The Boston Globe
, March 13, 2011
- ^
"Jimmies | New England Lexicon"
. 6 August 2020.
- ^
"5 Faves & a Dud: Sprinkles, Shots or Jimmies?"
. 29 June 2016.
- ^
"What Is This Called Where You're From? | Epicurious.com | Epicurious.com"
. Archived from
the original
on 2021-11-25
. Retrieved
2020-10-11
.
- ^
"shots"
.
Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary
.
- ^
"DE JONG'S"
.
Provinciale Drentsche en Asser courant
. 1913-04-19
. Retrieved
2019-02-27
.
- ^
"Hagelslag"
,
Wikipedia
(in Dutch), 2018-11-28
, retrieved
2019-02-27
- ^
"Venz"
. Venz.nl
. Retrieved
2011-01-04
.
- ^
"The History of Sprinkles | Shipley Do-Nuts - Order Donuts Online Now!"
.
West Houston Shipley Donuts | Donut Catering & Delivery
. 2018-02-28
. Retrieved
2020-03-27
.
- ^
"Etymology of Jimmies (Ice Cream Sprinkles)"
. snopes.com. 26 September 2009
. Retrieved
2011-01-04
.
- ^
"Our History"
. Just Born, Inc
. Retrieved
2019-08-08
.
- ^
"Wilfred F. Root & Son advertisement".
The Brattleboro Daily Reformer
. 3 June 1921.
- ^
The Capital Times ? August 1, 2006
[
dead link
]
- ^
"The Chocolate Sprinkle Sandwich"
. Math.union.edu. Archived from
the original
on 2016-03-04
. Retrieved
2011-01-04
.
- ^
"Funfetti® Cake Mix with Candy Bits"
. Pillsbury Company. 2010-09-30. Archived from
the original
on 2013-04-20.
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