It’s been widely debated on food blogs for years but we got taste.com.au’s experts to reveal the magic formula to making fairy bread. Do you agree? Photo / File
It’s been widely debated on food blogs for years but we got taste.com.au’s experts to reveal the magic formula to making fairy bread. Do you agree? Photo / File
We asked our food experts to take to the Taste Test Kitchen to figure out the ideal bread-to-butter-to-sprinkles ratio. Hundreds and thousands of 100s and 1000s later, we think taste.com.au’s food director Amira Georgy has nailed it.
Although some people say that fairy bread should have the ratio of equal parts butter to sprinkles, Amira believes the perfect balance is 3:2 – that’s three parts sprinkles to two parts butter.
This means for two slices of bread, you’d use 1 tablespoon of butter to 1.5 tablespoons (or 1/8 cup) of 100s and 1000s.
Are we losing you with all these numbers? The full recipe is below!
Spread the butter on your bread, making sure you reach the edges but don’t butter the crusts.
Sprinkle the hundreds and thousands over the top of the butter so they’re evenly distributed.
Cut your bread into triangles and serve (crusts on!)
OR … toss out that method and try the cool mess-free hack below.
An Aussie mum's fairy bread hack has gone viral. Photo / TikTok/gettingbetterwithsarah
The ultimate fairy bread hack
Have you ever found yourself tipping sprinkles all over the floor when trying to top your fairy bread? No more.
Australia’s Best Recipes (they’re fast becoming the Aussie experts in fairy bread production!) has nailed how to get a neat and thorough layer of sprinkles without wasting too many or making a mess.
All you do is tip your 100s and 1000s into a container, then dunk the bread (buttered side down) into the sprinkles. You get a beautifully even coating, with zero mess!
This is an absolute no-no. The bread won’t be soft and the colour from the 100s and 1000s will most likely run into the butter.
The good news is that it only takes minutes to make fairy bread, so you can do it at the last minute.
Although the name was most likely chosen because of its colourful appearance, some say it came from Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem Fairy Bread, where he writes of children eating fairy bread as they listen to fairy tales being told. Photo / Getty Images
What’s fairy bread made of?
The base of fairy bread is always soft white sliced bread. Most people spread it with butter, but some people prefer margarine (we sit firmly in #teambutter).
It’s then topped with 100s and 1000s (some choose strand sprinkles but we think the ball variety is most authentic). Just don’t do what taste.com.au’s Digital Director Laura did …
Apparently fairy bread was the name originally used to describe wafer-thin crispy toast served with soup.
In 1914, the Mataura Ensign referenced fairy bread as one of the children’s exhibits at the Gore flower show – one E. Briggs took out the top prize.
Although the name was most likely chosen because of its colourful appearance, some say it came from Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem Fairy Bread, where he writes of children eating fairy bread as they listen to fairy tales being told.
Why is fairy bread so popular?
It’s controversial backstory adds to its appeal. Fairy bread’s origins are claimed by both Australians and Kiwis, providing a tense topic during children’s parties as to who owns the sweet treat. Both countries argue that they invented the classic party food, but let’s just say we’re pretty sure this invention belongs to New Zealand.
