When my mom got home from a couple of weeks in Provence, she came to visit us in Evergreen, CO. She came bearing gifts, presenting us with some thoughtful native French trinkets including a monogrammed sachet of Lavender, a small postcard of Picasso’s wedding art, and some sea salt hand harvested in France. Just a week or two later I figured out the perfect thing to make with one of these mementos. I used my Fleur de sel to make the tastiest salted caramel I have ever had. I really think the salt made the caramel!
HOMEMADE SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups organic granulated sugar
- 12 tablespoons organic unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
- 1 cup organic heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon fleur de sel (or any other flaky sea salt)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Add the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a medium heavy saucepan. Heat the sugar over medium-high heat, whisking it as it begins to melt. You’ll see that the sugar will begin to form clumps, just keep whisking. As it continues to cook, they will melt back down. Stop whisking once all of the sugar has melted, and swirl the pan occasionally while the sugar cooks.
2. Continue cooking until the sugar has reached a deep amber color and a slight toasted aroma. This is the point where caramel can go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds, so keep a close eye. If you are using an instant-read thermometer, cook the sugar until it reaches 350 degrees F.
3. As soon as the caramel reaches this toasted amber stage or 350 degrees, add the butter all at once. The caramel will bubble up when the butter is added. Whisk the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk the cream into the caramel. 
5. Whisk until smooth, then add the Fleur de sel whisking until all incorporated.
6. Set the sauce aside to cool slightly, and then pour into glass jar. Let cool to room temperature before sealing.
Sauce makes great gifts or store the sauce for later use, up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. This caramel is good in espresso, ice cream, cookies, apples, bananas, made into icing, or just by the spoonful! Warm sauce back up before each indulgence. 
This caramel is amazing in this Fleur de sel Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie. Brown Eyed Baker has it down! I usually tweak other recipes to make them more into my own when using them, but I really didn’t recall changing a thing in this one except the name. Thanks Brown Eyes! I will let her take the cred from here.
Notice the layers of this delicious creation…
the meandering mates 
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