This beloved childhood treat is the “perfect trifecta of carbs, sugar and fat”, and it now has its own day of celebration.
If you’ve attended a children’s party in Australia in the past century, chances are you’re familiar with the sugary crunch of fairy bread.
Crusts might be on or off, but the basic ingredients never vary: sliced white bread, whatever buttery spread is in fashion and a crackling layer of 100s and 1000s nonpareil sprinkles bleeding their bright colours.
It even has its own Fairy Bread Day, on November 24, with official channels raising funds for foster children through the Pyjama Foundation.
An Australian favourite is born
The first recorded reference to the sprinkle-covered bread can be found in a 1929 newspaper article in Tasmania’s The Mercury, describing fundraising with a sanatorium children’s wing where: “The children will start their party with fairy bread and butter and 100s and 1000s.”
Fittingly, even then, fairy bread was front and centre aiding children in need.
Earlier references include Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1885 poem of the same name, but no description. And while other cultures have similar treats (including Dutch hagelslag chocolate sprinkles or sugar-coated aniseed sprinkles on buttered bread), in its rainbow form it is considered an Australian icon.
“It’s been around for such a long time that people don’t realise it’s an Australian phenomenon,” says Miranda Higgins, managing director of 100s and 1000s manufacturer Dollar Sweets, sponsors of Fairy Bread Day.
Why we love it so much
“It’s a perfect trifecta of carbs, sugar and fat,” says cake creative and cookbook author Katherine Sabbath. “Mix those three together, plus the texture of the sprinkles and the fluffiness of that white bread, and it’s perfect. It’s compatible with our climate, too, because it doesn’t need to be stored in the fridge, and you can make it the night before and cling wrap it. It’s not fussy and that’s a quintessentially Australian thing.”
Even with its simplicity, there are countless instances of international food lovers roundly shamed online for variations including sourdough, the “wrong kind of sprinkles” or cream cheese, with purists making accusations of rage-baiting, and Australians rallying to defend this symbol of childhood innocence.
But wait − it can evolve
Despite staunch insistence that you can’t mess with the original, it is OK to use it as inspiration.
“People do all sorts of crazy things,” says Higgins. “They will make adult versions, turn it into cocktails or have decorating competitions. It’s amazing.”
From Sabbath’s giant fairy bread cake to The Marshmallow Co.’s fairy bread cubes, Messina’s chocolate bar, or Goldy’s Tavern fairy bread and butter pudding in Melbourne’s Collingwood, there are fairy bread homages aplenty.
“People are obsessed because it’s that true nostalgia piece,” says Eddie Stewart, co-founder and head lamington guy at Tokyo Lamington in Sydney’s Newtown.
“I was looking through old photo albums, and at every single party there was a plate of fairy bread,” he says with a laugh. “We know it’s bad for us, but we love it.”
Tokyo Lamington has been serving its fairy bread popcorn lamington (a marriage of Australian icons) since opening in 2020.
“It was the second lamington on the menu … people get really upset if we take them off,” Stewart.
And as a chef who finds inspiration everywhere, Stewart has been known to break tradition.
“Once I toasted fairy bread, I buttered it hot, and it was lovely. But people weren’t happy,” he says.
Sabbath says there’s no crime in varying up the sprinkles, and she votes for margarine as her base, while Stewart is all about butter. Both agree that it needs to be salted to cut through the sugar. “It amplifies the flavour,” Stewart says.
When’s the big fairy bread day?
Fundraising for Fairy Bread Day, celebrated on November 24, is month long and donations can be made any time at fairybreadday.com.
“It was founded by Adam Schell in 2014,” Higgins says. “Just a conversation with friends that said, ‘It’s is such an Australian icon, it needs its own day.’”
Higgins, whose company has been making 100s and 1000s in Australia since 1947, says the event gains more traction each year.
Jane’s classic fairy bread recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 1 x loaf of fresh, white bread with crusts removed if desired, or you can use sliced brioche for a gourmet option
- 125g salted butter or margarine, room temperature for easy spreading
- 1 cup 100s and 1000s rainbow sprinkles, or a mixture of these and other novelty shapes like stars or sugar pearls
METHOD
- If you prefer crusts off your classic white bread, remove them before you get started.
- Pour all your sprinkles into a flat tray with sides that will keep them contained.
- Butter each piece of bread on one side with even coverage right to the edges – this will make sure you get the most even sprinkle coverage – and dip the buttered side into the tray of sprinkles, pressing down gently to help the sprinkles really stick and cover the whole piece of bread. Set the sprinkle-covered bread aside and repeat with the remaining slices of bread, shaking the tray gently to help redistribute the sprinkles between dips for best coverage.
- Cut the bread diagonally into triangle halves or quarters and serve.
Makes a whole loaf – enough for 20 plus kids
Note: Fairy bread can be made the day before and covered with cling wrap or placed in an airtight container to avoid the bread drying out.
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Jane de Graaff is a food writer and recipe developer who regularly demonstrates fun food on Nine’s Today Show.Connect via Twitter.
