Now I’m not a caterer but I do apparently have some of the requisite skills. On Monday I produced, along with my mummy, canapés for 90 people. Until now, the most people that I have ever produced food for is 30 people so that’s quite an uplift. I’ve done cakes and puddings for more than 30 people but I have never attempted canapés for that many.
Canapés are awesome but they are so fiddly and time consuming and nearly everything has to be done right before serving so I knew that I was going to have be strategic to pull this one off. Add to this the limitations of the venue that the event was taking place in, (nowhere to heat anything, no fridge space and as turns out, no running water in the prep room which is actually a meeting room). I knew that the key to success was going to be having a varied menu that could largely be made in advance. Not easy.
I was asked to provide a mixture of substantial savoury and sweet canapés and I devised the following menu:
Fennel marinated feta skewers with olive and cucumber
Spinach and ricotta tortellini with sun-dried tomatoes
Roasted tomato and basil mini quiches
Roasted red pepper, feta and mint dip shots with crudités
Spinach and smoked salmon roulade
Dill scones with horseradish cream and smoked trout
Thai coconut curried chicken skewers
Honey and sesame cocktail sausages
Parmesan and black olive thins with pesto parsley and goats cheese
Potato and onion broad bean tortilla with parmesan
Brownie bites with mascarpone and raspberries
Mini lemon cakes with lemon frosting
If I’m to be entirely honest then next time I would have fewer savoury canapés options but I would keep the same number of sweet options. I really enjoyed myself and can’t help but wonder what else I might be capable of. However, there isn’t a shadow of a doubt that I could have pulled it off without the help of my wonderful mummy, who I did make work all through mothers’ day… feel a bit bad about that one.
Spinach and smoked salmon roulade and dill scones with horseradish cream and smoked trout
Dill scones with horseradish cream and smoked trout
Makes 10 scones (20 canapés)
45g (1 1/2 oz) butter, diced
1 tbsp finely chopped dill
60 ml (2 floz) double cream
For the horseradish cream:
125 ml (4 floz) sour cream
150g (5oz) smoked trout slices
You will need a 1 1/2 inch fluted pastry cutter and a baking tray
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Crumble the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Stir in the dill and then using a fork, stir in the egg and cream to form a soft dough. If the mixture is a bit dry then add a drop more cream.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until smooth.
Gently role out to 2.5cm (1 inch) thick and stamp out 10 rounds using the pastry cutter.
Place the rounds on a greased and floured baking sheet. Brush with milk and bake until firm and golden, about 8-10 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack covered with a cloth.
To assemble (upto 45 minutes prior to serving)
Combine horseradish sauce and sour cream (do this earlier in the day and keep covered in the fridge until needed) and top each scone with an equal amount of the mixture.
Cut the smoked trout into strips approximately 1 inch wide and top each scone half with a trout strip, some black pepper and a sprig of dill. You can also prepare the trout strips in advance so that the scones are quicker to assemble.
Recipe credit: Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford-Snell
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#gallery-0-5-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* Emulate max-height in IE 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollHeight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } Delicious morsels Now I'm not a caterer but I do apparently have some of the requisite skills. On Monday I produced, along with my mummy, canapés for 90 people.