Easy Canapés, Perfect For Party Appetizers!

Every party needs delicious bite-sized food and these Canapés (pronounced as KAN-uh-pays) will not disappoint. The base of them is bread that has been cut into shapes and the garnishes are a cream cheese mixture, grilled zucchini, cooked ham, and smoked salmon.

To make the canapés, you begin by cutting the bread into star and flower shapes. Then, zucchini gets sliced before being grilled until golden. Next, the smoked salmon slices get rolled up with lemon peel before being shaped into roses. Finally, a cream cheese mixture is made with chives. This recipe makes two types of canapés, one that includes ham and the other that includes smoked salmon. Having two types will ensure that there is something that everyone will enjoy on the table.

What are Canapés?

They are a bite-sized finger food that is meant to be served with cocktails, and as a result, they are usually savory in flavor. This recipe involves making ham canapés and smoked salmon canapés. They both include herbed cream cheese and grilled zucchini. The only difference is the choice of protein and how the canapés are assembled.

Pro Tips

• If your food processor is too large for the quantity of cream cheese, you could blend it with an immersion stick blender instead.
• Ensure the cream cheese is softened so it is easier to mix with the chives. It will have a fluffier consistency and be easier to pipe as well.
• If you can’t find zucchini, yellow summer squash would work as well.
• If you don’t have flower or star-shaped cookie cutters, feel free to use other cutters instead.
• If you prefer, you could toast the bread before using it as a base for these canapés.

What to Serve with Canapés?

Canapés are made for serving your favorite cocktails. However, you could also serve them with your choice of wine as well.

Can I Use Flavored Cream Cheese?

Yes, if you would like to impart even more flavor to these canapés, you could use flavored cream cheese instead. Herbed cream cheese or French onion cream cheese would work particularly well in this recipe.

Can I Replace the Smoked Salmon?

Yes, if you prefer not to use cold smoked salmon, you could replace it with hot smoked salmon or smoked trout instead. Since these types of smoked fish are cooked, they will be quite flaky and you won’t be able to roll them with the lemon peel, though. Instead, you could simply add chunks of the fish to the bread canapés and use the lemon peel as a garnish.

How to Store Canapés

These canapés are best served as soon as they are made for optimal freshness. However, you could easily store components of it in the fridge to have them ready to assemble the canapés when you want to serve them. If you make the cream cheese mixture ahead of time, you will want to bring it to room temperature so it is easy to pipe onto the bread.

How to Make Canapés

Step 1

Step 1

Step 1: Remove the crusts from the bread and cut them into flowers and stars using cookie cutters.

Step 1: Remove the crusts from the bread and cut them into flowers and stars using cookie cutters.

Step 2

Step 2

Step 2: Cut the zucchini into thick slices and grill them on both sides until golden.

Step 2: Cut the zucchini into thick slices and grill them on both sides until golden.

Step 3

Step 3

Step 3: Wrap lemon peel in each piece of smoked salmon and shape them into roses.

Step 3: Wrap lemon peel in each piece of smoked salmon and shape them into roses.

Step 4

Step 4

Step 4: In a food processor, blend the cream cheese with the chives, salt, and pepper, until smooth. Place it in a piping bag.

Step 4: In a food processor, blend the cream cheese with the chives, salt, and pepper, until smooth. Place it in a piping bag.

Step 5

Step 5

Step 5: To make the salmon canapés, pipe cream cheese on top of the flower-shaped bread and top it with a slice of zucchini and a smoked salmon rose.

Step 5: To make the salmon canapés, pipe cream cheese on top of the flower-shaped bread and top it with a slice of zucchini and a smoked salmon rose.

Step 6

Step 6

Step 6: To make the ham canapés, cut the ham into star shapes. Pipe some cream cheese on top of the star-shaped bread and top it with the ham. Pipe more cream cheese on top and garnish with half a zucchini slice.

Step 6: To make the ham canapés, cut the ham into star shapes. Pipe some cream cheese on top of the star-shaped bread and top it with the ham. Pipe more cream cheese on top and garnish with half a zucchini slice.

Step 7

Step 7

Step 7: Place the canapés on a platter and serve them immediately!

Step 7: Place the canapés on a platter and serve them immediately!