Silver Dragees

Asked by jake2. Answered on 4th June 2011

Full question

Dear Nigella and Team! I have seen you using gold and silver tiny tiny non-pareils or dragees. You have featured them in How To Be A Domestic Goddess while making Christmas tree decorations. My parents are soon having a wedding anniversary. My sisters and I would like to impress them with a cake and to make a pattern on the cake we need those tiny tiny sugar dragees. I have looked everywhere and I could not find them. Please let me know where I could buy them online as I do not live in the UK at the moment. Best regards, Kelly

Our answer

The silver decorations are often referred to as "silver balls" in the UK but are more commonly known as "silver dragees" and sometimes as cashous. They come in a variety of sizes but the small ones are usually 2mm diameter. We are not sure which country you are in but you could try a local wedding store as they are often popular decorations for wedding cakes. You can also find them at Jane Asher's website and Squire's Kitchen (see below) - both offer international delivery.

In the US they are available from the NY Cake website (they also ship internationally) however due to FDA restrictions they are not classed as edible and should be used for decoration only.

In Australia the dragees or cashous should be available from cake decorating websites.

http://www.janeasher.com/sugarlist.php?cat=Edibles%20-%20Ready%20Made%20Decorations&subcat=General

http://www.squires-shop.com/ibf/index.php?p=product&id=2011&parent=0

http://www.nycake.com/Dragees-2.aspx

Australia

http://www.cakedecoratingsolutions.com.au/categories/Cashous-and-Almonds/Cashous/