Did you know you could make your own sprinkles to go on top of a cake or cupcakes? You can.
A while ago, I was watching the GBBO (Great British Bake Off), and one of the tasks they had to do was to make their own sprinkles. Well, I thought that was cool, but didn't give it much more thought. Until this week.
I signed up to bring a cake to be raffled off at our local Bingo night. I started going there with some Snowbird friends a few weeks ago, and just could not help myself when I found out they love it when people bake a cake and bring it to Bingo, where it is raffled off. The money raised stays in the community, and baking and donating cakes are among the ways I like to support my local community.
A few weeks ago, I made this cake and brought it to Bingo night. It was my Chocolate Cake with Seafoam Frosting. The lady cutting the cake did an incredible job, BTW.
And then I promptly signed up to bring another cake. This is my Easter Cake, decorated with my homemade sprinkles.
This was before I decided to use up as many sprinkles as I could on the cake. I think it was almost tastefully decorated, but... Why not have some fun? I stuck the marshmallow peep bunnies in the middle as if they were coming out or going back home after leaving some Cadbury eggs for whoever.
But I wanted more. So I threw most of the rest of the sprinkles on the cake. I had made lots of sprinkles and decided they needed to be used.
As you may know, I also like to play in the kitchen. I've made a few decorated cakes in the past. This was a Bunny cake, I put together at 6 am or so, when I was cooking lunches at the Senior Center.
I also made this Easter Basket cake for the Legion Cake Raffle a few years later.
What triggered this? Well, a couple of random comments made at the market, from people who absolutely abhorred coconut. And honestly, I didn't feel like coloring coconut. I wanted to bake a bundt cake in my new bundt pan and decorate it for Easter. And somewhere in the dim recesses of my memory, I remembered that GBBO episode, especially when I started looking at decorating ideas online. I also didn't feel like searching out some sprinkles. As you can see, I had lots of green, so I decided to use it as 'grass' for the eggs. I also made a seafoam (7-minute frosting) frosting for the cake as well, and placed (sprinkled) my homemade sprinkles on it, along with some purple and blue sprinkles. Can I just say, this was fun. Making the sprinkles, that is.
And here it goes. How to make sprinkles. First off, make some royal icing. You know the kind made with meringue powder that dries hard. In other words, the same kind you make to decorate Christmas Cookies. I use the recipe on the Wilton website. However, it does make a lot of icing/frosting, so... I cut the recipe in half. Luckily, I have a set of measuring spoons that let me measure out half tablespoons, so that's what I do. I've also been known to freeze leftover frosting in sealed frosting bags, then just massage the bags to reincorporate everything. Just saying...
Divide the frosting into several small dishes and color them with gel colors, mixing well. And then go have fun. Pipe them into little rows,
using either a very small piping tip or just cutting the very tip off the frosting bag, let them dry overnight, then break them up and use with abandon. 😉 Have fun, in other words. I now have lots of leftover sprinkles for future bakes. I'm told you can keep them at room temperature for up to a year, but I like to freeze stuff, or I may just pull out my vacuum sealer, put the little container in there, and seal them in that way. Decisions, decisions... At least I don't have to buy sprinkles again, unless I want cute little bears or trees for the Christmas sprinkles. And honestly, why would you want them when you can make your own sprinkles?
The cake underneath all the fun was my Thanksgiving cake. I love using sweet potatoes in cakes and other stuff like my Sweet Potato Tortillas, both of which are gluten-free and delicious. Just click on the underlined text to go straight to the recipes.
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