Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice

By Chef Thobeka Shangase

If girls are made of sugar and spice I would want to be speckled with pink peppercorns.
I realize that I may be a little bold in saying this, but I truly believe that pink peppercorns are the next big thing in South Africa. These amazing pink jewels are my new secret ingredient in desserts. No you read right, I did say pink peppercorns, but I promise it’s not what it sounds like.

Pink peppercorns are not true peppercorns in the traditional sense; they are the dried berries of the Brazilian pepper tree and the Peruvian Peppertree. These berries got their name because well, they look like peppercorns and they too have a peppery flavour to them. Pink peppercorns are not to be mistaken with the ripened red true peppercorns, the Piper nigurm, which are more reddish-orangey in color, but their name is based on their colour. They are similar in spice and colour but pink peppercorns are very different, which is why I love them.

Peruvian Peppertree

Pink peppercorns are not solid like black pepper; they are light, fluffy and hollow and should be ground up with a knife and not a pepper mill because they will get caught in the mill.
Pink peppercorns have a citrus flavour and are very fragrant, they have the heat of black pepper but the deep fruitiness of chilies, they are the relatives of cashews and mango which makes them suitable for a variety of dishes especially desserts and fruits. It just offers desserts an element of contrast and warmth, it really balances out the sugar in the most wonderful way, and I can’t express it enough. It just makes desserts electric, it brings them to life. They are fabulous with ice-cream and chocolate, in desserts that are really rich it works wonders.

From left: Black, white, pink and green peppercorns

I have tried it with Turkish delight and it is heaven with the rose water, the spiciness just tempers that annoying floral-ness that comes from rose water. I also love it in fruit salads, In Durban we love pineapples dusted in chili powder and to make a new version of this popular street food, I replaced the chili powder with crushed pink peppercorns, a scoop of vanilla ice-cream with a sprinkling of pistachios on the side and it was delicious and so pretty!

Pink peppercorns are the perfect secret ingredient and it goes well with every kind of dessert you can imagine, if a dessert is very sweet use the pink peppercorns to bring down that sugar, if a dessert is lacking that POW factor, throw in some pink peppercorns and it will come alive.
The French have been using pink peppercorns in desserts for decades and it’s about times us South Africans got on the pink peppercorn wagon.

Strawberry and Pink Peppercorn Mousse

Mousse
4 eggs
85g caster sugar
250ml cream
150g fresh strawberry puree
15ml icing sugar
5 gelatin leaves
25ml freshly ground pink peppercorn
100ml fresh strawberries, diced
2.5ml-5ml pink food colouring (optional)

Swiss Meringue
3 egg whites
85g caster sugar

Swiss Meringue
Stiffly whip the egg whites and slowly add in the sugar a tablespoon at a time until the mixture is double its volume.

Mix the icing sugar into the puree to sweeten it slightly.
Whip the cream until soft peaks, cover the bowl in cling film and place in the fridge to chill.
Bloom the gelatin in a bowl of cold water.

Prepare a double boiler and add the yolks into a metal bowl and caster sugar and whisk over the double boiler to make a sabayon, whisk until soft ribbon stage. Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water because it will scramble your eggs. Don’t dare look away and do something else while making the sabayon because the eggs will scramble. Do nothing but stand over the bowl and whisk it, if the bowl gets too hot, remove it from the double boiler and whisk it, but when the bowl gets cool return it to the double boiler until the desired texture is required and remove from the heat.
Remove the gelatin from the water, squeeze out the water and add the gelatin into the hot sabayon. Mix it in well until the gelatin dissolves.

Fold in the strawberry puree and diced strawberries. Use a knife or a spice meal crush the pink peppercorns and add into the strawberry mixture.

 If you’re using the food coloring you can add it in at this point. I like using food coloring in desserts like this because it makes the dish pop; it pronounces the colour in a beautiful way. I love bright desserts, don’t go crazy with the food colouring because a little goes a long way, but if you really want to make an impression with your dishes, if you want to make your desserts pop, make them bright and electric just like it does in the food magazines, food colouring is the secret ingredient. It’s a pastry chef’s trick.

Okay, now back to the mousse, leave the strawberry sabayon mixture to cool before folding in the Swiss meringue, if you fold it in while still hot the egg will start to cook and lumps will form. Fold in the whipped cream. Don’t be scared if you don’t get the cream fully mixed in, it’s fine you have a little bubbles of white whipped cream; if you used the food colouring it will not be noticeable.
Get your serving dishes ready 4-6 depending on the size of the dishes.  I like to use Martini glasses or ramekins, even shot glasses are really beautiful if you have guests over. You could serve the mousse in shot glasses with two other mini desserts to make an impressive trio of desserts.
Spoon the mousse into the serving bowls, place on a tray and place in the fridge for four hours to chill and set up.

Garnish the mousse with fresh strawberries and dark chocolate.
If you like you can make a chocolate ganache just a spoon over a little bit on top of the set mousse, even it out with the back of a spoon and place in the fridge to set up. It looks really good in a martini glass with the defined strawberry and chocolate layers. Garnish it with some mint leaves and a small dollop of white chocolate cream just for colour contrast.