Hot smoked salmon blinis with horseradish cream

Ingredients

• 100g buckwheat flour
• 60g strong white bread flour
• 1¼ tsp salt
• 7g fast action dried yeast
• 310g crème fraîche
• 180ml milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 tbsp creamed horseradish sauce
• ½ cucumber, halved lengthways
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tsp unsalted butter
• 3 x 150g packs kiln roasted salmon, flaked
• Small handful dill fronds, to serve

Method

1. Sieve the flours and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl; stir in the yeast. Put 140g crème fraîche and the milk in a pan over a medium heat. Stir until warm but not hot, remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks until smooth. Add to the flour mixture and mix into a thick, wet batter. Cover with a clean tea towel; leave to rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, until bubbly.

2. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, then fold into the batter. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour. Meanwhile, mix the remaining 170g crème fraîche with the horseradish; set aside. Thinly slice the cucumber, transfer to a bowl and mix with the vinegar, honey and the remaining ¼ tsp salt. Set aside.

3. Put a large non-stick pan over a medium-high heat and add ½ tsp butter. Once the pan is very hot, dollop in 2 tbsp batter per blini, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Fry for 1-2 minutes, until just set and golden on the base, then flip over and fry for another 30-40 seconds until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and continue with the remaining batter, wiping the pan clean and adding more butter for each batch. To serve, dollop 2 tsp horseradish cream on each blini and top with some salmon, some cucumber and a little dill. Season and serve immediately.

Recipe and image courtesy of Waitrose & Partners

Visit our Canapés & Party Food section for more bite-sized recipes, including smoked salmon sharing platter and tiger prawn tacos