Making canapés

Making canapés

A canapé or canape (known in Italy as tartine) is a small, prepared and usually decorative hors d'oeuvres, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite.Traditionally, canapés are made from stale white bread, cut in thin slices and then shaped with a cutter or knife. Shapes might include circles, rings, squares, strips or triangles. These pieces of bread are then prepared by deep frying, sautéing, or toasting.Although sometimes people use the words interchangeably, canapés are appetizers, but not all appetizers are canapés. The technical composition of a canapè consists of a base, i.e. the bread or pancake, a spread, a main item, and a garnish. The spread traditionally is either a compound butter or a flavored cream cheese. Common garnishes can range from finely chopped vegetables, scallions, and herbs to caviar or truffle oil. Because they are easy to pick up and eat neatly, canapés are often served at parties where people are circulating around a room rather than sitting at a table. Thus, they make popular items at events like wedding receptions, art gallery openings, and cocktail parties. However, because of their small size and because they are eaten with the fingers, they are also an excellent choice for children’s parties.

The trip of making impressive canapés with out an army of experts is by adopting a conveyor-belt method.

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  Buy a large square sandwich bread loaves of white , whole- meal or rye brad and leave them unwrapped at room temperature for a day.


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  Trim off crusts , and then cut each loaf lengthways into large , fairly thin slices.


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  Spread with the chosen topping, such as a savoury butter , flavoured soft cheese , pate or spread .


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  For spread , use a toppings that can be piped , rather than spread , such as soft cheese or creamy mixtures.


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  The bases can be prepared to this stag a day ahead ; cover with clean film and pack in a plastic bag. Cut into squares or fingers.


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  Arrange the canapés on serving platters and then add the garnishes.


• For efficiency , prepare a tray that can be added to the topped canapés quickly and easily.