Fairy bread
Fairy bread
White bread, butter, hundreds and thousands — an Australian kids' party, named honestly. Not a joke recipe.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Fairy bread.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- —
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 5 min
- Difficulty
- Very easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Fairy bread is sliced white sandwich bread, buttered to the edges, covered in hundreds-and-thousands (the tiny sugar sprinkles), cut into triangles. It is a children's birthday table and a nostalgia sting for adults. There is no technique beyond coverage. We are putting it on the site because people look for it, and because pretending it is not food is a different kind of snobbery. Use sliced white sandwich loaf — not sourdough, not wholemeal, not a brioche flex. Butter (or party margarine) to the edges so the hundreds-and-thousands stick. The topping is the tiny round nonpareils Australians call hundreds and thousands, not long chocolate sprinkles, though some parties cheat. Cut into triangles, sometimes rectangles. Coverage should be greedy. There is no technique beyond that. Serve on a birthday table. Adults may eat the leftovers at eleven at night.
Ingredients
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Butter each slice to the crust. Gaps are how fairy bread fails.
3 minStep 2
Pour sprinkles on a plate and press the buttered side down, or shower them on. Every millimetre.
2 minStep 3
Triangles. A platter. They stale in an hour, which is why you make them when the doorbell rings.
2 min
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Hundreds and thousands → Any tiny sugar sprinkle
Nonpareils are the look. Chunkier sprinkles are a different party.
Tips
- Margarine is how many halls actually did it.
- Crusts on. This is not a cucumber sandwich.
History & culture
Australia and New Zealand party tables. Adults eat it at 11pm and feel something complicated. Australia and New Zealand children's birthday food. It is a named party plate, not a chef's joke and not a 'deconstructed' canapé. Pretending it is not food is a different snobbery. Hundreds and thousands is the local name for the sprinkles. Brown bread versions exist and will be argued with. Triangles are the usual shape from a school-holiday table.
Documented in Australia from the 1920s. The name is the sprinkles looking like wings. That is the whole poem. Print references in Australia go back to the 1920s; a 1929 Hobart citation is the one people repeat. The name is the sprinkles looking like wings. That is the whole poem. You are buttering white bread and coating it with sugar balls. It is twentieth-century party food, not a colonial myth and not a modern internet invention.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Fairy bread take?
5 min all in — 5 min prep. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 8 triangles (from 8 slices). Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Very easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian.
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Chef's knife.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list a salt amount. We will not invent one.
What can I use instead?
Hundreds and thousands → Any tiny sugar sprinkle. Nonpareils are the look. Chunkier sprinkles are a different party.
Any tips from this recipe?
Margarine is how many halls actually did it. Crusts on. This is not a cucumber sandwich.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
Similar dishes
Checking your allergy settings…