When I need to give someone a special gift, I often make infused salts. They are quick and easy and last for quite some time. We usually have a huge amount of pepper tops on hand, resulting in copious amounts of spicy infused salt. I have made Chili Flake–Infused Sea Salt for dinner party gifts and for the holidays. This salt is also a great garnish for avocado toast.

20 pepper tops and seeds (reserved from Cherry Bomb Hot Sauce)

2 ¹/₂ cups coarse sea salt

Makes 6 quarter-pints

Preheat the oven to 200°F.

Place the pepper tops and seeds on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Place in the oven on the center rack. If you’re using a gas oven, leave the door closed; if you’re drying in an electric oven, prop the door open so moisture can escape. Check the peppers every 30 minutes, until there is still color but no moisture, about 1 to 3 hours. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool.

Put the salt into a glass quart jar with a lid. Pop the stems off the pepper tops and compost the stems. Place the dried tops and seeds into a spice grinder and grind until chili flakes appear. Place the chili flakes into the jar of salt. Put a lid and band on and shake. Store in a cool, dry place; turn and shake the jar nightly for 1 week to infuse the pepper flavor into the salt. Once complete, portion into small jars for easy trading or gift giving. Store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 1 year.

TIPS

If you don’t want to wait a week, you can grind the salt and dried pepper tops and stems in a spice grinder to quickly infuse the two.

If you didn’t roast and dry the pepper tops, use 3 tablespoons of chili flakes instead.