Make your own: Sprinkles!!
The story goes like this.. One of the first things that attracted me to cupcakes were the little 'thingies' that adorned the frosting. They looked so beautiful and added the much need element of colour and fun to plain ole chocolate cupcakes. Hence, when I decided to make my first ever cupcakes (vanilla), I wanted those sprinkles (yes, by then I knew what they are called) for my cupcakes too. I bought all the ingredients needed to make the cupcakes but the sprinkles eluded my sight and me and the good ones available, were way to expensive to fit my pocket. At that time, I didn't think I'd ever make my own.
It's quite appalling really, the lack of edible decorations in Mumbai. And if it is available, it's just not good or well, just too expensive for my pocket money to bear. I just knew now, that I had to make my own sprinkles or give in to those not-so-good, only-in-gold-and-silver, inexpensive sprinkles. I chose to do the former. And it was one of my best made decisions yet!!
You'll laugh when you get to know what these are made with. ROYAL ICING!! Yes, the humble royal icing. There's nothing shocking or amusing about it though when you really begin to think about it. 1) Royal Icing is traditionally used to decorate cookies, so you know that it holds it's shape. 2) It's used as a 'glue', much like melted chocolate is, so you know that it firms up nice and hard. and 3) It's a breeze to pipe when it's the right consistency. I wanted to make royal icing for something, I can't remember what..maybe I just wanted to try it. Anyhow, I read a few recipes and learnt that it takes three very basic ingredients (which you may have at hand at this very moment!), egg whites, icing sugar and lemon. That's it! And it's so incredibly easy to make.
Now, I thought I was the first one to come up with this novel idea! But alas, I'm not :( . Even though I haven't used those recipes, it may seem similar because royal icing is such a basic icing!
SPRINKLES
For Royal Icing
1 egg white
220 g icing sugar
1tsp lemon juice
Food colour
Other Equipment
2 Piping bags
2 Piping tips (basic small round)
Butter paper/ Parchment
Cling film/ Plastic wrap
Method
1) Whip the egg white until frothy.
Other Equipment
2 Piping bags
2 Piping tips (basic small round)
Butter paper/ Parchment
Cling film/ Plastic wrap
Method
1) Whip the egg white until frothy.
2) Add the lemon juice while still whisking. Whisk until soft peaks form.
3) Gradually add the icing sugar, a ladle full at a time.*
4) Whisk till the icing become thick and glossy.
This is your basic Royal Icing done! How easy peasy, isn't it?!
>> Now lets do the fun part..making sprinkles!!
1) Divide the royal icing into two bowls (you could do four or five or six!) Cover the bowls with cling fling (You do not want a crust forming on the surface)
2) Add a couple drops of food colour to one bowl and mix well using a spatula. (Keep the other bowls covered with cling wrap.)
3) Put the royal icing (of a single colour) into a piping bag fitted with a small basic round tip. Give it a good squeeze to get rid of any air bubbles.
4) On a sheet of butter paper/ parchment, pipe lines (vertical or horizontal, you choose.). Do not pipe them too close.
5) When you're done,set aside for 24 hours. These need to dry out to the core. They may feel dry to the touch, but the need to dry TO THE CORE.
6) Repeat the other steps with all the other colours.
>> Once dried out,
1) Scrape the sprinkle lines using a metal spatula or knife and break into small pieces.
2) Store in an air tight container. These will keep forever!!
NOTE
1) * You may even need lesser or more icing sugar than I did, hence, do not add all the sugar at the same time. You need a piping consistency, so add sugar accordingly.
2) To make basic five petal flowers, pipe five dots (touching each other) and then add a small dot in between while still wet. To make slightly bigger five petal flowers, hold the piping bag vertically, apply pressure, hold in place till the desirable size is reached, release pressure and lift the piping bag. Use the same method for the remaining petals.
3) To make hearts, pipe a small dot and pull the piping bag, using a slight inward diagonal motion, release pressure. Pipe another dot right next to the previous one and repeat. Make sure the two parts touch each other and the lines aren't very distinguishable. You've made a heart!
4) While piping shapes, make sure that you do not leave gaps in between. This the only way the shape will hold because as the royal icing hardens it'll bind the shape together. If there are any gaps, the shape will not come out as a whole.
5) Do not pipe very thin lines and shapes, be slightly generous. It's easier to remove the sprinkles then.
And most importantly have fun making these. This could be a great bonding activity or just call your girlfriends over for a fun creative creations time! These sprinkles are cute, adorable and incredibly easy to make and they taste so much better than the store bought ones (at least better than the ones we get here!).
3) Gradually add the icing sugar, a ladle full at a time.*
4) Whisk till the icing become thick and glossy.
This is your basic Royal Icing done! How easy peasy, isn't it?!
>> Now lets do the fun part..making sprinkles!!
1) Divide the royal icing into two bowls (you could do four or five or six!) Cover the bowls with cling fling (You do not want a crust forming on the surface)
2) Add a couple drops of food colour to one bowl and mix well using a spatula. (Keep the other bowls covered with cling wrap.)
3) Put the royal icing (of a single colour) into a piping bag fitted with a small basic round tip. Give it a good squeeze to get rid of any air bubbles.
4) On a sheet of butter paper/ parchment, pipe lines (vertical or horizontal, you choose.). Do not pipe them too close.
5) When you're done,set aside for 24 hours. These need to dry out to the core. They may feel dry to the touch, but the need to dry TO THE CORE.
6) Repeat the other steps with all the other colours.
>> Once dried out,
1) Scrape the sprinkle lines using a metal spatula or knife and break into small pieces.
2) Store in an air tight container. These will keep forever!!
NOTE
1) * You may even need lesser or more icing sugar than I did, hence, do not add all the sugar at the same time. You need a piping consistency, so add sugar accordingly.
2) To make basic five petal flowers, pipe five dots (touching each other) and then add a small dot in between while still wet. To make slightly bigger five petal flowers, hold the piping bag vertically, apply pressure, hold in place till the desirable size is reached, release pressure and lift the piping bag. Use the same method for the remaining petals.
3) To make hearts, pipe a small dot and pull the piping bag, using a slight inward diagonal motion, release pressure. Pipe another dot right next to the previous one and repeat. Make sure the two parts touch each other and the lines aren't very distinguishable. You've made a heart!
4) While piping shapes, make sure that you do not leave gaps in between. This the only way the shape will hold because as the royal icing hardens it'll bind the shape together. If there are any gaps, the shape will not come out as a whole.
5) Do not pipe very thin lines and shapes, be slightly generous. It's easier to remove the sprinkles then.
And most importantly have fun making these. This could be a great bonding activity or just call your girlfriends over for a fun creative creations time! These sprinkles are cute, adorable and incredibly easy to make and they taste so much better than the store bought ones (at least better than the ones we get here!).
Until then,
Happy Baking!
Posts
21 comments
this is super !!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Vishu! :)
Deleteamazing!! very beautiful and very pittu kind(colours)!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, true!
DeleteThank you :)
You are brilliant!!I absolutely adore these!!!!
ReplyDeletewow!!! :)
Thank you!! :)
DeleteIncredibly easy, right?!
I've just given you an award :)
ReplyDeleteCheck it out at http://culinarystorm.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/where-to-spend-a-tuesday-night-in-delhi/
Yay, thank you Charis! :D
Deleteyou have no idea how many avenues you ve opened for me with this post.. you re well on your way to become the next nigella soon :) and i m a lawyer too dear :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I was able to do that! And you have no idea how happy you've made me!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anusha.
Luck.
wow, u made ur own sprinkles from scratch?? hats off to u..u make it look so easy :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I did! And you can too..trust me, its as easy as it sounds. :)
DeleteWow! Great post, Pratiksha! I love working with royal icing, and have made little flowers and stuff before, but never thought of making sprinkles! How fun... now I can make my own themed colors :) Thanks for the great idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you Marsha! Royal Icing is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I recently made a few more colours.
DeleteMy piping skills are great and I am making an effort to improve them. I hope I'll be able to pipe better soon and make some really pretty flowers to accompany my cakes and cupcakes!
Ack! Gah! So Cool!! And I can eat the leftovers by licking them off the back of the piping bags too! Sorry, scratch that.
ReplyDeleteHahaha..yes you can totally do that! Wanna know a secret?...I did that too!
Deletethats such a neat idea pratiksha...am gonna try this.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sayantani. Do let me know how the sprinkles turn out!
Deletehey...i am from delhi..and cant find find any place to buy a piping bag..where did u get yours..???
ReplyDeletep.s-sprinklers look amazing.. :)
hey...they look amaziinnggg....great going..!!!
ReplyDeletecould u tel me whr u got that piping bag..i live in delhi n m unable to find it...
Hey Aatika,
DeleteYour comment went into the spam box and I'm only just seeing this. Really sorry about the delay. About the piping bag, the best part is, you don't need one!! Take a simple ziploc bag, fill it with the royal icing (or any other frosting you may need to use for anything else, cut the bag from a corner (snap of a really tiny portion) and you're good to go!!