I don’t go in for topping my ice cream with candy. It’s sweet enough for me as it is. But, I’m the exception. You can’t have an ice-cream shop without an assortment of sprinkles or jimmies, those little sweet candy pieces that ice cream lovers use to adorn their scoop or cone. But, what’s the difference between sprinkles and jimmies? It depends on where you live and who you ask.
What are Jimmies?
Let’s start with jimmies. Jimmies are, technically, if I may use the term, the name for little chocolate sprinkles. Even more specifically, jimmies are the small chocolate rod-shaped candies people put on ice cream. However, the same term might be used for the multi-colored candy pieces or for any flavor or type of small sprinkles you might put on ice cream.
Origin of Ice Cream Jimmies
The term jimmies is said to have started with Just Born. You may know the Just Born candy company for Marshmallow Peeps. I know them for Mike & Ikes, Hot Tamales, and Good n’ Plenty candies. They started in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1923. During the 1930s. The company’s founder, Sam Born, is often credited for inventing those little chocolate sprinkles for ice cream. He is also said to have pioneered hard coatings on ice cream. Pretty radical!
During the 1930s, Just Born manufactured chocolate ice cream sprinkles and, according to the story, a fellow named Jimmy was in charge of the machine that made them. So, people at the company started calling the little candies jimmies, and the name stuck. Jimmy’s last name may have been Bartholomew, but I haven’t confirmed this. Nor have I confirmed whether he actually existed.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but chocolate jimmies (or sprinkles) taste only vaguely of chocolate. They are mostly sugar, corn starch, and a bit of fat. Some cocoa powder is thrown in for a nice brown color.
The Dutch have a version of these called Hageslag. They like to put them on buttered bread. In the Netherlands, they are crazy for hagelsag sandwiches and eat over 700,000 of them a day. Unlike chocolate jimmies, hageslag have flavor. To make them, they make chocoate in into a past by adding powdered sugar. If this sounds chocolate cake icing, well, that’s pretty much what it is.
Sprinkles Versus Jimmies
Sprinkles are any small candy-like pieces you put on ice cream or, whatever else you like (yes, people put sprinkles on buttered bread). But, the term usually refers to the small multi-colored candy pieces used for topping. These are made in much the same way as chocolate sprinkles, except those colors are only there for decoration. They have no flavor. None. Nada. They are mostly sugar, and whether chocolate or flavorless, they are coated with a wax or confectioner’s glaze to make them shiny. Chocolate or not, they are used to add texture, not taste.
What you call these ice cream toppers depends on where you’re from. People in Philadelphia and Boston call chocolate sprinkles jimmies. However, New Yorkers tend to call them sprinkles. You may hear the term jimmies way up North in Michigan or Wisconsin. Then again, you may not.
In summary, jimmies are chocolate sprinkles. Sprinkles are any small candy pieces used for a topping. And, sometimes sprinkles that are not chocolate are called jimmies.
I mentioned Philadelphia. According to this article, they actually fight over the proper name for a flavorless crunchy candy thing people put on ice cream? I guess everybody needs their hill to climb.
