Here's an example:
SDL_Color textcol = {255, 255, 255};
SDL_Color backtextcol = {0, 0, 0};
SDL_Surface *mes = TTF_RenderText_Shaded(font, "The game has begun", textcol, backtextcol);
apply_surface(40, 40, mes, screen);
SDL_Flip(screen);
Thanks to that example, we draw a black rectangle with white letters. Is it possible to draw just white letters with black inside without the whole black rectangle?