U.T.D.D

The Ultimate Thanksgiving Dessert, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

No, that isn't an acronym for a new std.
It's the ultimate turkey day dessert.
(Ew. I'm apologizing now if those two sentences together were kind of gross or offended you, my reader. It's best never to compare food to any type of bodily function or issue. Strike that from the record.)

I've been dying to make salted caramel, anything salted caramel. I've also been itching to buy a few ounces of fleur de sel. Fleur de sel translated is simply flower of salt. Hand harvested, the salt is scraped from the top of salt pans before it sinks to the bottom. It is primarily collected in France but flor de sal is also available and is harvested in Portugal. I was lucky enough to come across Fleur de Sel de Guérande, which is found in salt marsh water in France and is apparently the most revered. It was a must, for thanksgiving I decided it was time to try my hand at this confection known as salted caramel. Unfortunately, now that I know how insanely easy it is I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stop myself from gorging on it. Gooey, sweet, slightly toasty, with crystals of tart, salty fleur de sel hiding throughout? Ooooooh. Since making and enjoying it, I'll lay in bed at night and imagine all the various things I could do with salted caramel. My next salted caramel project will be a cupcake I think. Perhaps I will celebrate my last week of fall quarter with a batch.

I adapted my recipe from the amazing post over at baking obsession.
Here is the link: http://www.bakingobsession.com/2008/11/24/milk-chocolate-and-salted-caramel-tart/#more-578

I played with the recipe a bit, but the biggest (yet smallest) difference was I topped my tart with a creamy layer of whipped honey cream.
I highly suggest giving the recipe a try, though it may take you hours (or days if you do ahead) to prepare.

Cheers!
(Turkey Day Post to follow)