If you grew up anywhere between Boston and Bar Harbor, you know the order: a vanilla cone, rolled in jimmies, eaten fast before it drips. Everywhere else they say sprinkles. Around here, they are jimmies, and nobody is changing that.
This fall we are putting the ice cream stand classic to work on the season's best bakes. Our fall jimmies seasonal sprinkle mix blends cherry red, burnt orange, golden yellow and deep brown, the exact colors outside the window in October. Here is how to use it well, at home or behind a bakery counter.
Jimmies are the short, rod-shaped sprinkles: soft bite, slight sheen, about the length of a grain of rice. They cling to frosting and glaze better than round decorations, and they will not crack a tooth.
Nonpareils are the tiny hard balls. They give crunch and a speckled look but roll off anything that is not tacky.
Sequins and quins are flat shapes like leaves, stars and discs. They read as decoration from across the room and work best placed, not showered.
Sanding sugar is coarse colored sugar. It sparkles but brings no color depth.
For full coverage on donuts, cupcakes and cones, jimmies are the workhorse. Use shapes and sanding sugar as accents on top.
Building a decorating station? Explore jimmies in 15 colors and various weights, or browse sprinkles and decorating toppings for more options.
Timing is everything. Jimmies need a wet or tacky surface, and that window closes faster than you think.
Stock your finishing station with icings, chocolate coatings and vanilla ingredients to pair with your fall toppings.
A good starting point is about a teaspoon per donut or cupcake for a generous top, a little less for a speckled look. For a rolled cupcake edge or a fully coated cone, plan on closer to a tablespoon. Scale up from there and keep the leftovers in an airtight container for the next bake.
Keep jimmies sealed, cool and dry. Humidity and heat are the enemies: they make sprinkles clump and colors dull. A pantry shelf away from the stove is perfect. Fall is also an easy season to ship decorations, so stocking up before holiday baking is simple.
A fall jimmies topping is one of the cheapest limited-time offers you can run. At about a teaspoon (5 g) per donut, a 10 lb box dresses roughly 900 donuts, so the topping adds pennies to each one while giving you a new item on the board for October and November. Put a seasonal name on it, photograph it in the case, and it sells itself.
Plan your seasonal topping lineup with Fall Jimmies Seasonal Sprinkle Mix, 10 lb, Halloween Jimmies Sprinkle Mix and Ultimate Rainbow Jimmies Sprinkle Mix for everyday celebrations.
Want your own colors, or need bulk quantities or a standing order? Ask about custom sprinkle blends and request a quote, and our team will put a case price together for you.
Jimmies are a type of sprinkle: the short, rod-shaped kind. In New England, jimmies is the everyday word for them.
Apply them to a wet or tacky surface. Glaze should still be glossy, frosting should be at room temperature, and coatings should still be liquid.
Decorate close to serving. Any colored sprinkle can release color into very wet toppings like whipped cream or melting ice cream if it sits for hours.
Plan on roughly a quarter cup for a dozen generous tops, more if you are rolling the edges.
Airtight, cool and dry, away from heat and humidity.
Shop Fall Jimmies → or browse more sprinkle options.
Nationwide shipping → specialtyfoodsource.com
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