Every good housewife has her own recipes for holiday dishes, which have already been tested and retested over many years.
Recently, in addition to the taste of food, the external attractiveness of food plays a huge role.
That is why the decoration of the festive table is not the last place at the stage of preparing dishes and setting the table for the arrival of guests.
There are many delicious recipes, but even housewives with experience don’t always know how to decorate a festive table beautifully.
But we will help you solve this problem by bringing to your attention original ideas for decorating such small snacks as canapés.
For many, the name canapes still remains foreign. It’s more clear to say small sandwiches or small snacks on skewers... and everything becomes clear.
But modern culinary art borrows not only recipes from world cuisine, but also names.
Canapés (which means tiny in French) are small, tasty snacks that can be shaped using skewers, or made on small pieces of puff pastry, crackers, or pieces of bread.
Canapés on skewers and simple canapes are very easy to prepare. To prepare them, several ingredients are mixed, resulting in wonderful small snacks for a festive table or buffet.
We can talk a lot about preparing canapés on skewers, as well as how simple canapes are prepared.
These little canapes are not difficult to make even for a child. The point is different. Small canapé appetizers on skewers and simple canapés need to be able to be beautifully decorated and served on a festive table, because it is this factor that makes canapés stand out from other appetizers.
In order to prepare simple canapés and canapés on skewers, you need to stock up on small pieces of different types of fish and cold cuts.
Canapes can also be prepared with pieces of cheese, crab sticks, anchovies, shrimp, olives, and boiled eggs.
To prepare canapes, you can take small fruits and vegetables and other ingredients that can create the original flavor composition of this small snack.
You need to prepare canapes from ingredients of approximately the same small size, so that canapes on skewers and simple canapes have a good aesthetic appearance.
In addition to the ingredients listed above, a sauce is often prepared for canapés, which is used to lubricate simple canapes, giving small sandwiches an amazing taste. To make sauce for canapés, sour cream, herbs, lemon are most often used, and curd sauce is prepared.
Classic canapés with fresh vegetables
Classic vegetable canapés are a popular seasonal snack. Skewers with cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers are especially good at the height of the summer season, when all the ingredients are fresh, juicy and ripe. But even in the off-season, the dish can be prepared from greenhouse vegetables, compensating for the missing juiciness with your favorite sauce.
Ingredients:
- Cucumber – 2 pcs.
- Cherry tomatoes – 10 pcs.
- Red bell pepper – 1 pc.
- Yellow bell pepper – 1 pc.
- Parsley – 1 bunch
Preparation:
Wash all the vegetables, cut the cucumber and bell peppers into squares.
Place the components on thin skewers in any order. For example, cucumber, peppers, parsley leaves, cherry tomatoes.
If desired, sprinkle the canapes with finely ground salt and spices, sprinkle with olive oil or lemon juice.
History of the dish
According to many experts, the ancestral country of such snacks is France. As is now known, in the 17th century in France there were certain rules for table setting. According to them, before the main courses it was necessary to serve snacks that would awaken the appetite.
Interesting fact: in French, the word “canapé” is a homonym and means both a buffet dish and a type of upholstered furniture.
It would seem, what is the connection between furniture and small snacks? Some people saw the similarity of upholstered furniture with a French dish.
Vegetable canapés with mozzarella and olives
Tender and delicate canapés with mozzarella and olives will appeal to lovers of Italian cuisine. They combine the juiciness of ripe cherry tomatoes, the delicate crunch of sweet peppers and radishes, a delicate cheese texture and the spicy taste of pickled olives. Even in appearance, such vegetable canapés are several times superior to dishes from the same series.
Ingredients:
- Cherry tomatoes – 20 pcs.
- Radish – 100 g
- Bell pepper – 1 pc.
- Olives – 10 pcs.
- Basil leaves – 20 pcs.
- Mozzarella – 10 pcs.
- Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp.
- Provençal herbs – 1 pinch
- Salt
Preparation:
Prepare the components of the canapé: drain the olives, rinse the cherry tomatoes and basil leaves under running water, cut the radishes and bell peppers into small pieces of arbitrary shape.
Place alternately on thin skewers: cherry-radish-mozzarella-olive-cherry pepper.
Alternate cheese and vegetables with basil leaves from hour to hour.
Mix the oil with salt and herbs, pour the dressing over the vegetable canapés neatly arranged on a plate.
Children's canapes (recipe)
As you know, many children love “adult” dishes. You can also prepare a similar snack for children. In this case, vegetable canapés can be replaced with fruit ones. To prepare this snack you will need:
- banana;
- strawberry;
- kiwi.
The base of the canapé will be banana. It needs to be cut into approximately equal circles. Place cut strawberries on top. The third layer is kiwi. To prevent the canapés from looking empty, everything can be duplicated several times.
Another option for making fruit canapés. The following fruits are needed:
- kiwi;
- cranberry;
- a pineapple.
In this version, the base will be pineapple. It needs to be cut into equal pieces, put kiwi on top, and then cranberries.
Greek canapés with cheese and fresh vegetables
Greek canapés are a classic of buffet cuisine. Today it is difficult to find a corporate event, wedding feast or youth salad bar without Greek skewers on the menu. Not surprising, because the appetizer is amazingly tasty, despite the simplicity of the ingredients and primitive preparation.
Ingredients:
- Cucumber – 3 pcs.
- Cherry tomato – 12 pcs.
- Cheese cheese – 200 g
- Olives – 12 pcs.
- Fresh herbs – 1 bunch
- Lemon – 1/4 pcs.
- Balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp.
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp.
Preparation:
Cut all the necessary ingredients for the skewers: cheese - into large cubes, cucumbers - into thick rings, finely chop the greens.
Place cherry-olive-cucumber-cheese on skewers.
In a separate bowl, combine the juice of a quarter of a lemon, oil and balsamic vinegar. Add chopped herbs.
Serve the finished sauce along with Greek vegetable skewers.
Proper serving
Canapes are often called a one-bite sandwich, which very accurately reflects the essence of this culinary miracle. The main task is not only to choose the right products and present them beautifully, but also to do it in such a way that the snack is convenient to eat. Very often, special skewers of different shapes and sizes are used for canapés, which are used to pierce the entire culinary structure. Appetizers are served on large flat dishes, with canapés with the same products laid out in rows. A more interesting design is also possible. So, for example, for a wedding banquet, appetizers can be laid out in the shape of a heart on a platter.
In our article we will look in more detail at the best canapé ideas for specific holidays. For clarity, here are recipes for preparing snacks that can replenish the arsenal of housewives.
Vegetable canapés “Caprese”
Vegetable canapés “Caprese” are perhaps the most popular appetizer option at buffets. Their recipe is perfectly balanced: proteins in tender mozzarella, fats in juicy olives and carbohydrates in ripe fresh vegetables. Even visually, the Caprese canapés are very appetizing and presentable.
Ingredients:
- Cherry – 10 pcs.
- Mozzarella – 10 pcs.
- Olives – 10 pcs.
- Pesto sauce – 2 tbsp.
- Balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp.
- Lettuce leaves – 5 pcs.
Preparation:
For the caprese skewers you will need pesto sauce. If you don’t have a ready-made one, make your own with olive oil, green basil, lemon juice, nuts and grated Parmesan.
Dip all the mozzarella balls into the resulting sauce.
Wash the cherry tomatoes and lettuce leaves and dry them on paper towels.
Alternately thread tomatoes, cheese, and olives onto skewers.
Distribute lettuce leaves on a flat plate and place vegetable canapés on top.
Drizzle the finished appetizer with a thin stream of balsamic vinegar.
Fruit canapés on skewers - small desserts for a festive table or buffet
Small fruit snacks – fruit canapés on skewers – have become especially popular lately.
To prepare them, you can use almost all known fruits, which can be cut into small pieces.
To ensure that fruit canapés on skewers look beautiful for a long time, they are sprinkled with lemon juice.
Fruit canapés can also be decorated with powder, chocolate or fruit sauce.
Fruit canapés on puff pastry and fruit canapés on skewers can create a whole fruit composition, and may well replace the usual flour desserts.
Fruit canapes on a festive table can become a favorite treat for children, for example, at a birthday party.
Vegetable canapés with pickled champignons
To give vegetable canapes a richness and a denser texture, slices of bread, toasted croutons or crispy croutons are added to the usual recipe. They complement the taste of vegetables and highlight the aroma of spices and herbs.
Ingredients:
- Fresh cucumber – 2 pcs.
- Pickled cucumber – 2 pcs.
- Tomato – 3 pcs.
- Marinated champignon – 10 pcs.
- Toast bread – 4 slices
- Red basil – 10 leaves
- Thyme sprigs – 10 pcs.
- Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.
Preparation:
Cut circles from slices of toast bread and fry them until crisp in a dry frying pan.
Cut similar elements from fresh cucumbers and dense tomato pulp.
Cut the pickled cucumbers into rings.
Place the ingredients on skewers in the following order: pickled mushroom-thyme and basil-fresh cucumber-tomato-pickled cucumber-bread.
Carefully place the stacks on a presentation plate and drizzle with vegetable oil.
It is better to form vegetable canapés with croutons just before serving. Otherwise, the crusty bread will have time to become damp.
Cooking rules
Possible ideas for canapes completely depend on what products you can purchase based on your financial capabilities. These may be more budget options or more sophisticated ones. In addition, it is important for what event the canapés are prepared - a formal event or simple gatherings.
With all the variety of ideas for canapés, the technology for preparing snacks has mandatory components - grapes, cheese and olives. It is simply impossible to imagine snacks without these products. They are the finishing touch of the composition and give the dish an exquisite taste.
Dried or fried bread, chips, crackers, and unleavened cookies are used as the basis for canapés. If you plan to use bread, then you should choose a baguette that has a denser pulp, since you will not be able to cut the crumbly pulp beautifully, it will simply fall into crumbs. Bread preparations must be dried in the oven, but they should not be overcooked.
Canapes “herring under a vegetable coat”
If you don’t want to give up conservative holiday dishes, you can replace the traditional serving with a more modern one. We recommend preparing canapés from vegetables and fish, as a variation of the good old “herring under a fur coat.”
Ingredients:
- Potatoes – 2 pcs.
- Carrots – 2 pcs.
- Beets – 1 pc.
- Lightly salted herring – 200 g
- Rye bread – 150 g
- Garlic – 2 cloves
Preparation:
Boil the vegetables in lightly salted water, cool and peel.
Cut the herring into slices, rye bread into flat rectangles.
Rub the pieces of bread with grated garlic.
Chop carrots, potatoes and beets in the same way as bread.
Fold a pyramid of bread-beets-carrots-potatoes-herring and carefully thread it through with a skewer.
Snack "ships"
Delicious mini sandwiches with salmon and cheese can be decorated in the form of ships with sails.
Ingredients:
- a couple of slices of white bread;
- salmon (180 g);
- butter;
- cheese (230 g).
We cut out the bases for canapés in the form of boats from the bread, dry the slices in the oven and grease them with butter. We cut the salmon so that its shape matches the bread base. Place the fish on the butter and stick a toothpick into the center of the canape, onto which we string sails of thin slices of cheese. The appetizer can be decorated with herbs.
Canapes. Options for fillings, spreads and pates for canapés
Canapés – mini sandwiches for every taste
Since canapes are a very small, portioned appetizer, the products for it are chosen with a bright taste, often delicacies. All kinds of pastes and pates, butter with additives are used as a spread, but as for the fillings, it is impossible to list all the options - their variety is so great. We decided to highlight the most affordable, common and easy to prepare and offer them to your attention.
Butter with fillers
Butter with herring. Separate the salted herring into fillets, chop in a blender and grind with soft butter.
Green oil. Grind a large amount of any greenery in a blender, grind with butter, add salt to taste and add a little lemon juice.
Mustard oil. Mix spicy mustard (not very spicy) with butter, pour in a little lemon juice.
Cheese butter. You can use soft cream cheese or grate hard cheese. Mix with butter.
Egg oil. Grind the boiled yolks with butter, salt to taste. If the spread turns out pale, add a pinch of turmeric.
Horseradish oil. The finished horseradish needs to be ground in a blender to a paste, mixed with oil, add a little lemon juice.
Caviar oil. This is a delicious spread that requires good butter and red caviar. The oil is ground with the caviar until smooth.
Pasta and pates for canapés
Cheese paste. We take soft cheese, grate it on a fine grater, mix it with mayonnaise or cottage cheese, garlic and herbs.
Curd paste. Mash the fatty cottage cheese, mix with mayonnaise or sour cream and add any filling - tomato paste, garlic, herbs.
Liver paste. It can be prepared from poultry, pork or beef liver, which must first be soaked in milk. Then cut the liver into pieces, fry with onions, and grind in a blender. Add salt and pepper, spices, and a little butter to taste.
Sprat pate. It can be prepared from any canned fish, not just sprats. The fish is mashed with a fork, the egg is grated and everything is mixed with chopped herbs.
Filling options for canapés
Canapés can come with or without spread, but a base of toasted bread or crackers is present in almost all varieties, with the exception of fruit canapés. Here are some multi-layered canapé compositions:
- Bread, cheese, fresh cucumber, ham, olives
- Bread, fresh cucumber, sweet pepper, salmon, olives
- Bread, cheese, fresh cucumber, sweet pepper, cherry tomato
- Bread, fresh or pickled cucumber, cheese
- Bread, ham, cheese, cucumber, meatball
- Rye bread, herring oil, boiled beets, pickled cucumber, rye bread
- Rye bread, cheese butter, ham, greens
- Rye bread, mayonnaise, ham, olives, eggs
- Rye bread, mustard or egg oil or oil with horseradish, herring, apples
- Rye bread, butter with horseradish, boiled meat, egg, cucumber, mayonnaise, greens
- White bread, butter with herbs or cheese, cheese, walnuts (ground), radishes, pitted cherries
- White bread, cheese or butter, cheese, grapes
- White or black bread, butter, red or black caviar, egg
- Crackers, liver pate, mayonnaise, pickled cucumbers or mushrooms
- Crackers, butter or soft cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers
Although preparing canapés requires a lot of time and effort, the appearance of mini-sandwiches on the table always pleases and surprises guests, and this “frivolous snack” is one of the first to disappear. So prepare more and different canapés!
Chocolate banana popsicle
Canapés are delicious both frozen and immediately after cooking. 2-3 hours in the freezer will add tenderness to the sweet snack. Different types of sprinkles will not only decorate the delicacy, but also add new shades of taste.
Ingredients:
- bananas (3–4 pieces);
- a bar of quality chocolate;
- for sprinkling - poppy seeds, coconut flakes, crushed nuts, colored dragees, sesame seeds, etc.
A dessert made from fermented baked milk is something incredibly tasty.
I offer you an easy-to-prepare recipe with step-by-step photos of an exquisite dessert made from fermented baked milk with gelatin, which...
The fruits are peeled and each is divided into 3 parts. The pieces are pricked onto wooden or plastic skewers. Place the prepared sprinkles on different saucers. The chocolate is broken into pieces and melted in a microwave oven or in a water bath. It is more convenient to use a shallow plate. Each banana slice is dipped in liquid chocolate, rolled in sprinkles, and placed on a sheet covered with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Canapés are frozen or served after the glaze has completely hardened.
Sandwiches with grapes
The combination of smoked meat and grapes gives the canapes a unique taste.
Ingredients:
- smoked chicken breast – 200 g;
- black and green seedless grapes – 100 g each;
- cheese – 200 g.
Preparation:
- Cut the fillet and cheese into small cubes.
- Let's take a skewer, put grapes on it, then chicken and cheese.
- We alternate the colors of the berries, so the snack will look festive.
Grapes can be replaced with green olives and black olives, which will also make a very beautiful appetizer.
Important!
Be sure to buy hard cheeses for this recipe, such as Dutch or Russian. Otherwise, the sandwiches may float.
