Christmas Canapés – Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese / Brie and Cranberry Blinis



Morning guys and girls! Has anyone else noticed? Christmas party season has begun!!!



Canapés on the Christmas buffet table

We kicked off the party season on Sunday evening with our first festive party of the year. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents all came round to celebrate my Granddad’s birthday and the beginning of the Christmas celebrations.

It will come as no surprise to you guys that my family does Christmas big time. For Christians there is truly something worth celebrating at Christmas and although all of the children of the family keep getting older and older (heck, I’m one of the youngest and I’m 22 next month) Christmas gets bigger and bigger every year! Who said Christmas was just for kids?!

With 20 people descending on our house on a Sunday afternoon/eve food was going to require a bit of preparation. So I sent the parents off to church (it is advent after all) while I stayed at home to get on with the cooking.

This is the first a series of posts. Next to come is a Spinach and Ricotta Pie, and mini-Christmas cakes (the perfect bite sized treat to finish off any Christmas buffet!) But I must admit I do feel a little cheeky posting this “recipe” at all! I think it could probably be better described as arty assembly. Nonetheless, I’m a firm believer that the key to a successful buffet is keeping the cooking simple, but the flavours exciting! You want every mouthful to memorable and hopefully I achieved that this weekend.

So...what are my Christmas Canapés?

I chose to do my canapés in two different flavours. Although smoked salmon and cream cheese is a classic this time of year (I don’t think I know anyone who DOESN’T have smoked salmon as a starter on Christmas Day) I wanted to provide a choice, in particular for those guests who are vegetarian. What’s more Christmassy and veggie friendly than brie and cranberry?

Once I’d settled on my flavour combinations, it was a case of assembling the parts. I bought my blinis from Sainsbury’s (don’t judge me, it’s an acceptable short cut this time of year). There were 30 in a pack hence how I’ve based my recipes on 30 bite sized portions. Here’s how to do it: