Smoked salmon blinis with lemon crème fraîche

Serves - 4 as a starter, or makes around 16 blinis

You’ll need

• 100g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 150ml milk
• 20g unsalted butter, melted, plus a little extra for frying if needed
• 150g smoked salmon
• Small handful chives, finely chopped
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

For the lemon crème fraîche
• 150g crème fraîche
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Small handful dill, finely chopped
• Black pepper

Method

1. Make the blini batter

Put the flour and baking powder into a bowl with a small pinch of salt. In a jug, whisk together the egg, milk and melted butter, then pour it into the flour. Whisk until you have a smooth batter. It should be thick enough to hold a little shape in the pan, but still drop easily from a spoon. If it feels too thick, add a small splash more milk.

2. Make the lemon crème fraîche

In a small bowl, mix together the crème fraîche, lemon zest, lemon juice, most of the dill and a good grind of black pepper. Give it a taste. It wants to be fresh and sharp enough to lift the salmon, not just sit there looking decorative.

3. Cook the blinis

Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a tiny knob of butter if needed. Spoon in small rounds of batter, about a tablespoon each, leaving a little space between them. Cook for 1–2 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface and the undersides are golden, then flip and cook for another minute on the other side. Repeat until all the batter is used. You are after little soft, golden pancakes, not anything too dark or overly serious.

4. Let them cool slightly

Transfer the blinis to a wire rack or plate and leave them to cool a little. Warm is fine, room temperature is fine too – they are quite accommodating like that.

5. Build them properly

Top each blini with a small spoonful of the lemon crème fraîche, then add a fold of smoked salmon. Finish with the remaining dill and the chopped chives, plus a final twist of black pepper if you like.

6. Serve

Arrange on a platter and serve straight away. They are exactly the sort of thing that disappears faster than expected, so it is no bad idea to get them to the table promptly.

A couple of helpful notes

- You can make the blinis a few hours ahead and keep them covered, then assemble just before serving.
- If you want a slightly neater finish, add the crème fraîche with a piping bag or a small spoon, but there is no need to become overly formal about it.
- A few capers on top would work very nicely if you want a little extra sharp, salty bite.