Sugar pearls

Sugar pearls and balls to decorate a cake

You've probably already come across them on a dessert or on cupcakes: sugar pearls.

In a small pot or bag ranging from 50 grams to 1 kg, sugar pearls are edible decorations for pastries or cake design , a real essential in cake decoration.

If you are looking for mixes, go to our Sprinkles and confetti category.

There are several sizes and shapes:

Little sugar pearls

These are the smallest, found between 1mm and 3mm. They are available in all colors: red, green, blue, pink, etc. The composition is often the same depending on the brand: sugar, puffed rice, sugar syrup, corn starch, powdered sugar and some food colorings.

You can use them to make sprinkle cakes, it's a cake covered with buttercream or ganache, on which you put edible pearls until you can no longer see the cream!

To do this, you have to empty the sugar balls into a plate and dab the cake in them to stick them. This is a very appetizing and colorful cake. You can of course use them on any cake as decoration.

You can also place sugar subjects next to your sugar pearls to reinforce your decoration.

Larger pearls

This is the slightly larger version: you will find them between 4mm and 1cm in diameter. Like their little sisters, they are available in all colors. Another similarity is the ingredients of edible pearls : sugar, puffed rice, sugar syrup, corn starch, powdered sugar and coloring. However, they are also available in chocolate.

They are rarely used for making cake sprinkles, but are perfect for placing on a wedding cake or cupcakes. Their size is an asset and makes them a central decoration of your cake design.

You can also place them on the sugar flowers .

How to use them?

There are several techniques to decorate your cakes with sugar pearls:

Pour them directly onto the cake . This is the crudest version, you just uncork the pot and sprinkle your sugar decorations on the cake.

Use angle pliers . A little longer but more precise, we mainly use this pliers with the sugar pearls, you will have great precision in placing your decorations on the cake. In the same style you can also use a pearl gun, it's even faster since you load the edible pearls directly into the gun

Is your cake not covered with ganache or buttercream? The pearls will not hold on a dry cake, like a yogurt cake for example, so you have to use a product to stick them: edible glue, it takes a little longer but is very effective. It will also be difficult to make them fit on a matzo sheet .

Do not use them in the oven. The decorations can be baked in the oven but they will certainly lose their color, so avoid them if you want to keep their shine.

Make modeling details. For example, you can make the eyes of your sugar paste models with black sugar pearls.