Inspiration: On a spring day not too long ago, I finally had the time and mental bandwidth to tackle a few new recipes, one of which was homemade sprinkles. Despite watching a baker on television make these tiny sugar-based decorations on an immensely truncated timetable, I felt their simplicity must be too good to be true.

It wasn’t.

Turns out sprinkles (or the name you feel most comfortable using) are dead easy to make. Five ingredients plus time — that’s it. Well, and some space to let the baking sheets sit unmolested by either a curious housemate or a stray fruit fly until they are dry.

The recipe I used came from here. 

The upside of freshly made sprinkles is they not only add a unique crunchy texture, but you can add extra flavor via these imperfectly perfect sugar toppings. Vanilla, lemon, cran-orange, ube…basically (almost) anything you can dream up, can put in sprinkles to enhance or compliment the base flavor of your bakes.

Helpful Hint From Me To You: You want to ensure your mixture remains on the thick side. If it’s too runny, you’ll encounter a similar problem I had when piping, i.e., flowing unbidden from the pastry bag in shapeless lines.

Not that this gaffe dampened the joy of making my own sprinkles! More importantly, be prepared for the question (if you live with someone else): Why is everything we own sticky?

Because powdered sugar, corn syrup, and water are extremely STICKY!

Agatha Christie: It’s easy enough to see, in one’s mind’s eye, Miss Marple, Tuppence, and Lucy Eyelesbarro patiently piping out sheets and sheets of hundreds-and-thousands for a Christmas pudding, birthday cake, or Halloween treats.

Making the confection in question just a tad more special.

BTW: I’m not sure what exactly possessed me to pick Peril at End House for this photo (other than I liked the cover). Mainly because within the rolls of Miss Marple mysteries, there’s one that actually features sprinkles!

But we’ll get to that in a bit.

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2025