Your Desserts Are Missing This Underrated Floral Spice

For most people, the word dessert is synonymous with sweetness, and calls to mind favorite flavors like chocolate and caramel. And yet experimental food lovers have embraced the idea that a little spice is nice in sugary things. Perhaps you know this already, and have experimented with cayenne or smoky ancho in a brownie, cake, or ice cream recipe. In that case, you probably don't need to have the swicy food movement explained – you already know there are excellent reasons for these flavor pathways to converge. But you might be looking for new inspiration, and that's where a ingredient that brings this type of depth to your dessert comes in. Look no further than the floral and aesthetically pleasing pink peppercorn. 

This is one of those small-but-mighty situations: Though it's a petite ingredient, pink peppercorn brings not only its own subtle and unique flavor, but helps to enhance others, while also offering colorful pizazz. You might already know pink peppercorn for its ability to upgrade salads, proteins, and sauces, but its bright taste and subtle spice complements many other elements as well. Don't sleep on these vibrant pops when it comes time for dessert — they're just the thing to set them off.

Pink peppercorn will definitely take you down a flavorful path, but you might not know which one right off the bat. First things first: If you've wondered whether pink peppercorns taste different than the black variety, the answer is yes. In reality, the pink peppercorn is actually not related to the black peppercorn (or the white, green, or red, for that matter). It's not a peppercorn at all, actually, but a berry that happens to resemble one. Plot twist, right?

While pink peppercorn does have its own brand of heat, it does not contain piperine, the compound that accounts for the kick of true peppercorn, so the flavor is much softer and less aggressive. Instead, you'll find a flavor profile that is often referred to as fruity, floral, and almost lemony. With those descriptors, you can see how it lends itself well to sweeter preparations. To use these powerful little berries, you don't even need a pepper grinder; just gently crush them with a mortar and pestle. Keep in mind that they may lose a little of their color when exposed to heat, so reserve a few for garnish if you want to highlight their beautiful hue in your sweet creations.

The pink peppercorn may not be part of the actual peppercorn family, but it is related to mango, cashews, and pistachios — relatives that provide solid flavor inspiration. Try a pistachio and pink peppercorn pudding, or a mango pink peppercorn sorbet (you only need 3 other ingredients to make this refreshing treat). Pistachio and pink peppercorn chocolate bark plays up the inherent fruitiness of dark chocolate, while also complementing its subtler floral notes. A coconut ice cream with pineapple, pink peppercorns, and white chocolate is an irresistibly well-rounded combination too.

Additionally, pink peppercorn is a great fit for other spices including cinnamon and coriander, as well as toasty sesame seeds and herbs like mint. While those ingredients are great for savory dishes, plenty of desserts feature them as well, and will happily welcome a little pink peppercorn action. A batch of sesame cashew and tahini blondies is ideal, as is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Even a totally traditional American buttercream frosting gets a wonderful floral lift from these berries, and little flecks of color, too. Alternately, you can play into the spice's lemony qualities by adding a little to your lemon bars. With their versatility and complex flavor personality, you can rely on pink peppercorns to level up almost any dessert.