Smoked Salmon on Savoury Scones

Smoked salmon has always been a kitchen classic ingredient for canapés. The Telegraph published a piece on the subject several years ago (December 2004 to be precise) but some things never seem to go out of fashion, and there’s lots of interest in that article. You can read it here:

Daily Telegraph: “Kitchen classics: smoked salmon”

That had me fancying some smoked salmon canapés. But what to make? Ah yes, remember the tiny scones recipe? A savoury version would be a great base for a smoked salmon canapé. The savoury scones are made the same as the sweet ones. Simply omit the sugar and add herbs if wanted. But here it is again for the savoury version this time:

Tiny Scones

(makes 10)

Ingredients

• 175g (6 oz) plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 45g (1½ oz) butter, diced
• ½ tsp dried herbs, if wanted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 60ml (2fl oz) cream

Essential equipment (according to Eric and Victoria)

4cm (1½ inch) fluted pastry cutter. (I don’t have such a thing but managed fine using my 2-inch round cutter.)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mark 6).

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt.

Crumble the butter into the flour with fingers until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. (I did this in the food processor in the same way as for shortcrust pastry.)

Sprinkle in the dried herbs if using.

With a fork stir in the egg and enough cream to make a soft dough. (Again I did this in the food processor.)

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Gently roll out to a 2.5 cm (1 in) thickness and stamp out 10 rounds with the pastry cutter.

Place rounds on a greased, floured baking sheet. Bake until firm and golden, 8-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Now make the topping. You can pretty much use anything you fancy. Here’s what I did.

I took half a tub of cream cheese and beat it with a fork until it was light and more pliable.

Next I added a bit of interest to the flavour by adding a couple of teaspoons of horseradish sauce (from a jar) and beat that in too.

Spread the cream cheese mix onto the scones. Top with pieces of sliced smoked salmon. I garnished mine with some black coloured ‘caviare’. (I’m not sure what it is exactly but our local supermarket sells it fresh. Then I put it into little bags in the freezer so I have small portions available any time I want it for decoration.)

As you can see from the photo above, it makes an attractive and tasty party snack or just something pleasant to nibble yourself. I often prefer small food and tapa dishes over large meals.