Sprinkles have many names in many countries. In England, they are called “hundreds and thousands.” In Holland, they go by hagelslag. By most accounts, sprinkles were invented by French bakers in the 18th Century and called nonpareils. Added to cakes and confections, these treats were “without parallel.”

But it took the famous Dutch chocolatiers until 1936 to perfect a chocolate sprinkle, originally used as a topping for bread and toast.