Colorful, yes? Picture any of these sprinkled over cupcakes slathered with white icing or strewn across the top of a cake and you have instant color and decoration. These sugar decorations, also sometimes called “sugar decors” on cake-decorating sites are inexpensive, have ridiculously long shelf lives and are about the quickest way to make your baked goods sparkle, sometimes literally, such as with that rose colored metallic glitter in the front of the picture. And yes, these are all considered edible… well, more on that later.
Left to right we have some pink hearts and white snowflakes; this kind of seasonal decor is very easy to find at craft stores such as Michael’s or ordered through Wilton.com. The pink “pearls” come in other colors, too, although mostly pastels. The silver glitter at the top is metallic and the red sugar decorations to the far right has a metallic sheen as well. In the center are large and small multi-colored sugar confetti. These are a small sampling of what is available. You can find footballs and teddy bears and shamrocks and pretty much a match for any theme you might have in mind.
Now as far as edibility, here is a disclaimer. See those pink pearls above and the metallic balls below, called dragées? They are all little hard balls of sugar, and while theoretically edible, they have been known to crack teeth and crowns, so proceed with caution. Many dragées, with their extremely high shine metallic coating, are actually not considered edible by the FDA, but Americans eat them all the time, as do Europeans. We suppose if you ate a cup or a gallon (we really do not know the threshold and are just guessing), then you might feel un-well. Use common sense.
However, sometimes common sense goes out the window, as it did with Dede when she turned nine years old. Her mom made her a white cake with fluffy white frosting and spelled out her name with cinnamon red hots (see below). Nine-year-olds are not known for their sense and it seemed to her that the cake would be vastly improved upon if the entire thing were mosaic-ed with red hots. Her Mom let her plaster the thing with the candies and a lasting, happy birthday memory was made. Perhaps this was a harbinger of Dede’s cake decorating future?
The point is that decorating baked goods can sometimes be simple. So simple that a nine year old can have a hand in the process. We say, Have Fun!
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