Today in our Tuesday scoop I am going to share one of my secrets with you. Sprinkles come in many colours but I colour my own. Yes, you read it right. I colour 80% of my sprinkles. Today I will be talking about how to colour your sprinkles to make your cakes look more colourful and unique.

First let’s talk about the different types of sprinkles that we have in the market.

1)  Sugar Crystals

Also known as sanding sugar, it comes in a variety of colours. Now since that I love making my own I prefer using larger grains. They come in a variety of coarseness, making it apt for all types of cakes and occasions. It adds a lovely bling to the cake.

Read :- What Is The Functional Impact Of Sugar On Cake.

2) Nonpareils

I have seen nonpareils in a variety of colours and sizes in the market , but I still land up making my own. With the range of colours available in the market, for me every shade looks different. These are teeny-tiny colourful balls adding a lovely crunch to our goods. I prefer using them on cake pops, cake-sickles, ice-creams.

Read:- Top 5 Decorating Tolls For Cake Making

3)  Hundreds and Thousands

Well Hundreds and Thousands is nothing but jimmies. These are small sugar rods typically used in sprinkle mixes. But when it comes to the range of colours they are very much limited. Here is where my techniques come to the rescue.

4)  Sugar Pearls

Little hard to eat, these sugar pearls are of great help when it comes to decorating larger spaces on our cake projects. They range in the sizes of 1mm to 15 mm and can be procured at any high end grocery store.

5) Dragees

The beautiful metallic balls or dragees  that we have been eating since our childhood have a shiny metallic coating and are similar to that of pearls or nonpareils. The shiny coating is what differentiates it from the others. In our industry when we refer to dragees , we are typically referring to 2-3mm non-toxic metallic beads

Read:-Eight Interesting Cake Facts You Should Know

6) Quins

Quins are the most colourful and unique sugar sprinkles as they are made from sugar dough and cutting them at high speed. They are made by extruding sugar dough in fun shapes and colours.

So now that we have seen the variants , let’s have a look at the process of colouring. All you will need is :

Few Bowls and Spatulas

Airbrush Colour of your choice

Vodka

And a Colander

Step 1: Colouring

I start with white cake sprinkles and colouring them with airbrush colors. Add a few drops of the desired colour to the cake sprinkles and mix it using a spatula. Don’t try rubbing it over your palms, you may end up damaging the cake sprinkles. Use the flat side of your spatula stirring it to and fro to mix the colour evenly in a tilted bowl.  

Step 2: Distribution

The easier way out is to pour the cake sprinkles in a box with lids and shake to distribute the colour equally.  The sanding sugar and nonpareils require very less colour. The little tricky in the family are the metallic dragees and jimmies.

Step 3 : Drying

Patience is the key. Don’t expect the sprinkles to dry over your nap time. Stirring occasionally helps a lot to fasten the process. There are chances that you might end up having clumps. I usually pass it through the colander to keep it clump free.

So, if you read through the process it looks simple, but there’s always a learning phase where you might end up messing and throwing off batches. Always start with small batches as trial and once you are perfect can look forward to colouring the bigger batches. Make sure once the cake sprinkles are dry you store them in airtight containers until the festive season.

Hope these DIY sprinkles add to your collection of easy and fast moving cakes!!!

Story By: Namrataa Mahalley