Canapés are small appetizers that are perfect for a holiday cocktail party. These sweet and savory Christmas canapes invoke the colors of the season through the use of candied orange bits.
The base is a blini made of rice flour for extra crispness. The top is slightly melted sharp cheddar cheese with a garnish of oil-cured black olives and the candied orange rind. You may have heard that citrus and cheese don’t play well together, but the tart/sweet rind doesn’t have some issues.
If you have other leftover dried fruit, feel free to use it instead. A spreadable cheese is also a great substitute for the cheddar. The bottom line is that you can assemble these appetizers quickly and make use of whatever ingredients you have on hand.
1. Info for Holiday Canape Appetizers
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 40
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Holiday Canape Appetizers
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, to taste
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup rice flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, finely ground using a mortar and pestle
- ¾ cup almond milk
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 10 ounces mild cheddar cheese, diced
- ¼ cup candied orange rind, chopped
- ¼ cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup pecans, finely chopped
3. Directions:
- Into a small saucepan, pour the almond milk. Bring to a near boil (don’t over-cook; otherwise the fat might start separating). Melt the butter in the milk. Remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature.
- In a bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift all the dry ingredients.
- In two bowls, seperate the yolks from the egg whites. Whisk the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon sugar using a hand mixer until it’s thick and has a pale yellow color. Slowly using a spatula, alternately add in 3 batches the dry ingredients and the buttered almond milk. Mix until the batter is even. Add the almond extract and mix well.
- Thoroughly wash the mixer. Add ¼ teaspoon salt to the egg whites and whisk until you get stiff peaks (don’t over-mix or it will become grainy). The egg whites should stick right up. Add the remaining sugar. Pour 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the main mixture and gently stir everything to soften the batter. Pour in the rest of the egg whites and gently fold them to get an airy batter.
- Pour about 1½ tablespoons of batter onto a greased, hot flat griddle greased pan. Cook for 2 minutes and flip. Top with a piece of cheddar cheese. Transfer to a platter. Top with candied oranges, pecans and olives.
- Serve immediately.
- Bon appétit!
