Fleur de Sel

You might wonder why an 8 oz jar of Fleur de Sel (french for flower of salt) averages around $8 a pop. It is a result of sea water, hand harvested off the coast of France and naturally processed by the sun and wind. It's culinary uses are endless - try it with salads, meats, desserts and everything in between.

Pictured below is just one of many popular combinations (with chocolate and caramel)





This is a chocolate caramel fleur de sel cupcake baked fresh from Noe Valley Bakery. And yes it tastes as amazing at it looks.

I couldn't help but wonder what # tip they used to frost these cupcakes. What porportion of baking soda/baking powder did they use to get these babies so plump? Does the bakery create large batches of these? Does that mean they really add only one egg at a time? Wouldn't that entail overworking the dough? Piping the filling into each one must have been fun. I'm guessing they use real butter instead of shortening and eggs, also at room temperature. Dry ingredients are added in parts ...