Pink peppercorns lend foods a different kind of heat, closer to chiles than black pepper. They have the same peppery bite, but it’s wrapped in a sweet fruity flavor reminiscent of a berry with an attitude. The peppercorns have a thin, fragile skin that can easily be rubbed off (a great lightly-flavored colorful garnish for fish or chicken).
Based on this description, it only makes sense that you’d pair them with something sweet, and when you enhance the whole thing with some French Celtic sea salt, you’ve got a perfectly balanced bite.
- Prepare a rectangular baking pan by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying with oil or greasing with butter. Set aside.
- Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter and 1 cup cream in a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat.
- Stir until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes, then wash down sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in warm water.
- Place a warmed candy thermometer in the pan and cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil.
- Wash down any crystals that form on the sides.
- Continue to cook until the mixture reaches 244F, or Firm Ball stage.
- Remove the pan from the heat and with a clean wooden spoon, gradually stir in the 2nd cup of cream.
- Return to the heat, bring back to Firm Ball stage, or at least 245F.
- Remove from the heat and pour into your prepared baking pan.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle crushed peppercorns and salt evenly over the surface.
- Allow to cool completely – you may want to put it in the fridge to speed this process.
- Once cool, remove the caramel from the pan by lifting the foil liner.
- Peel off the foil, and cut into pieces.
- Wrap with waxed paper.
Aren’t they pretty? And I can tell you, the flavor is just as nice. These are a great little holiday treat for your friends and family. The pink peppercorns add a unique dimension to the flavor profile, while also adding a touch of holiday color to an otherwise ordinary salted caramel. Try them and let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
>SOOOO pretty! I would love to get a candy thermometer and actually try this recipe (and a bunch of other candy recipes), but I have to say – candy is the most intimidating "cooking" to me.
>These are so lovely.
>Amazing idea! I just received some Himalayan pink salt and organic pink peppercorns from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I'll have to try them out in this recipe. Not sure if I'll be able to part with them for gifts or not, they sound so good!
>These are just stunning! Making caramels has long been on my list of things to make. You have inspired me. With the addition of pink peppercorns – now you are over the top with deliciousness!
>I tried the BHG recipe tonight in the hopes of creating a lovely hostess gift. It yielded an extremely sticky, very difficult-to-work-with mess (even after freezing them for a few minutes as the recipe suggests). The taste is pretty good, but they stick to the teeth and definitely aren't gift material. What's your secret for obtaining a good result?
>@MB – I'm sorry to hear that. The recipe I used for the caramel is for Cream Caramels adapted from The Joy of Cooking. I did refrigerate them for a bit, and then halfway through cutting them I had to stick them in the freezer for a bit to bring the temp down a little more (mainly because I don't think I let them cool all the way in the fridge). They set up beautifully, though. The difference between my recipe and the BHG recipe was that mine used granulated sugar (which contains less moisture) and theirs uses brown sugar; otherwise they were very similar.
>I just wanted to say that I made this recipe last night and it came out beautifully. Yay for homemade Christmas candy!