Rose Petals and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
Dried rose petals will easily bring the romance of pale red and bright pink hues but combining the rose petals with Fleur de Sel will ensure their sweet floral aroma also makes a strong showing in your ice cream garnish. You can experiment with sprinkling on whole petals for maximum visual impact and recognizability, but you can also try pulsing a handful of the dried petals in a food processor to a powder and then mixing it with your salt for a fine pale pink dusting.

Lavender and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
Mixing Fleur de Sel with dried lavender flower buds will enhance lavender's sweet floral and herbaceous notes. The lavender buds themselves can add a pop of colorful contrast to your ice cream topping but be wary of adding too many. Lavender is a fairly specific and strong scent on its own; it will be even more powerful with the addition of salt. Remember too that some folks have a soap or lotion association that you won't want to underscore. With lavender "a little goes a long way,"" for lavender plus salt this adage is even more true.

Safflower and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
Safflower petals are a more exotic and savory choice to add to your Fleur de Sel ice cream garnish. The orange yellow threads are mild in flavor though not in color; their wispy petals will make a bold statement.

Cayenne Powder and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
A cayenne chile powder kick enhanced with Fleur de Sel will create a bright heat; this contrasted with the creamy sweetness of your homemade vanilla ice cream will add complexity to a dessert that though tasty is, well, rather vanilla.

Chipotle Chile Pepper Powder and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
Chipotle chile powder with sea salt will provide a smoky, savory, earthy contrast to the rich sweetness and warming vanilla of your ice cream.

Guajillo Pepper Powder and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
Guajillo is a mild-to-medium spiced chile that will give your sea salt ice cream garnish impressive specks of bright red along with their flavorful sparks of heat.

Pink Peppercorn and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
This delicate spice is not actually related to black peppercorn. Pink peppercorn's flavor is more like that of capsicum peppers with their bright, fruity heat and complexity. Add this to your Fleur de Sel for a more layered flavor with a bit of heat. Its fragile shell will fall paper-like and fine on your rich cream dessert and give your eyes a visual feast.

Cracked Black Peppercorn and Sea Salt Ice Cream Garnish
Zesty cracked black peppercorn mixed with your Fleur de Sel will balance your sweet ice cream dessert with a bit of crunch and savory. Contrast in color and peppery bite will shake up your expectations.

Cinnamon Ice Cream Garnish
A warming spice like ground cinnamon with its sweet but slightly spicy flavor profile is probably less daunting as an experimental add on to your salty ice cream garnish. The familiar aromatics of cinnamaldehyde will be enhanced and emboldened by the Fleur de Sel sea salt and the perceived warmth of the spice will balance nicely with the actual coldness of the ice cream.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Ice Cream Garnish
Speaking of fall...Oh, we weren't? Well regardless, no warming spice list should be put forth without adding this autumn sensation. Like cinnamon on its own, pumpkin pie spice blend will undoubtedly seem like a more natural companion to your homemade vanilla ice cream. With each creamy bite you'll also experience all the aromas of the season.

Star Anise Ice Cream Garnish
Star anise has an intense licorice aroma and taste—it isn't a good choice for those who are on the fence about the flavor. However, for licorice believers, whole star anise is beautiful looking star-shaped spice that begs to be used as a garnish during festive seasons. When it is used in drinks in this way it infuses into beverage. Whole star anise as a garnish with sea salt on ice cream can be a presentation-and-aroma-heavy addition. Chose and place the spicy stars strategically on the tops of your scoops and they will instantly elevate the sophistication of your homemade ice cream concoction. If you want to have a little more of the licorice-y star anise flavor present beyond just the presentation, add some ground star anise to your Fleur de Sel garnish and sprinkle it on your ice cream before placing the aromatic ornamental pods.

•   Salt is one of the five flavors: Salt, Sweet, Bitter, Umami, Sour
•   We readily notice salt as 'missing' in a dish; unsalted food registers as less flavorful
•   Salt acts chemically on foods to increase aroma — it increases the volatility of aroma molecules which then aerate; their wafting fragrance can be inhaled
•   Salt acts physiologically/neurobiologically on our brain's perception — most simply explained as an association trigger for the brain to weigh in and notice the foods' flavor.
•   Salt suppress the sensation of bitterness
•   We don't smell salt, but it does make other ingredients it is mixed with more aromatic (see previous bullet point)

•   Salt water solution — Salt water freezes as a lower temperature than water
•   Ice alone isn't cold enough to freeze ice cream — the sugar and fats interfere with the formation of ice crystals, too much sugar or fat will not allow ice cream to solidify
•   When the ice cream mix is surrounded by a salted water solution it acts as an agent* in the cooling process that is cold enough to harden the cream (even though it itself is a slushy solution it is colder than solid pure ice)
•   *To be clear, this salt IS NOT mixed into the ice cream, and you shouldn't use fancy salt to make this solution. The ice cream mixture will be contained in a bag or metal vessel and surrounded by this salted ice cube/water solution (large granule or rock salt works well)