Caviar Blini Appetizers are a delicious savory mini pancake, with a schmear of mascarpone, a dollop of caviar and a sprinkle of chives.
This is my favorite dish to serve before a dining at home experience. Decadent appetizers are a fabulous way to start the evening.
Caviar
Who doesn’t think of caviar, when thinking of celebrating a special occasion! Throughout Eastern Europe, caviar finds its place to many a special gathering.
Often, it is served on top little canapé size slices of bread, or on crepes. Truth be told, I could simply dip a tiny wooden spoon into a bowl of caviar and eat it just like that!
Did you know metal is never to be dipped into caviar? A chemical reaction occurs, so always a wooden spoon.
What Is Caviar?
Of course, fish have eggs, and caviar is the eggs, removed from the belly of a female fish! They range from a huge variety of sizes and colors, depending on the fish they are extracted from.
Salmon caviar (you may have had with sushi or in my Salmon Caviar Muffins), are little round orange eggs, larger than the tiny black Beluga fish eggs I used here. There are several others as well.
What Is A Blini?
What is a blini, you ask? Basically it’s a small pancake, or crepe, often made from buckwheat flour, well known in Eastern European cuisine.
The blini recipe I created here was made with regular flour but I crushed a small red beetroot into the batter to give it an earthy flavor.
Often I find the flavor of buckwheat to taste earthy as well. The beetroot added a bright color to compliment the black caviar I used.
Caviar Blini Appetizers Or Tapas
Truth be known, my favorite style of eating is to graze over a spread of tapas; lots of small plates of varied dishes.
Instead of making these little crepes before serving be assured that they hold up well being made in advance.
Basically, this makes appetizer time quick and easy but they can be made an hour before and left room temperature.
A little spread of mascarpone, a dollop of caviar and a sprinkle of finely chopped chives or garlic scapes, and you have the most decadent appetizer I can think of!
Making Blini
The batter for the blini, or crepes (similar to a waffle batter), can be made in advance and quickly cooked on top the stove in a frying pan.
Once the blini are made, they will keep for several days in the fridge. To add a little zing to my blini, I put a small dollop of horseradish in the batter. I’m telling you, these are scrumptious to eat alone!
Ingredients Needed
- Dry yeast
- Sugar
- Flour
- Salt
- Milk
- Eggs
- Butter
- Prepared Horseradish
- Mascarpone or sour cream
- Caviar
- Chives
Equipment Needed
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- Saute pan
- Metal spatula
- Small spoon
- Whisk
- Prep tray – like a cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Stovetop or burner
Caviar Blini Appetizers
Ingredients
- Dry Yeast – 2 teaspoons
- Sugar – 1 teaspoon
- Flour – 1 cup, spelt or rice flour are great wheat substitutes
- Kefir – 1 cup (yogurt can substitute)
- Eggs – 2, separated
- Cooked Beet – 1 golf ball size, pureed
- Prepared Horseradish – 1 tablespoon
- Salt – to taste, about ½ teaspoon
- Butter – to cook blinis, about 1 tablespoon
- Mascarpone – 3/4 cup
- Caviar – 1 ounce
- Chives – 1 bundle, freshly chopped
- Blini – 12, small
Instructions
- Mix yeast, sugar, and flour in a bowl. Warm the kefir, only to tepid temperature, (not warmer than 112 degrees). Stir egg yolks into the tepid kefir and stir into the flour mixture. Let this batter rest for one hour.
- Whip the egg whites, mix in horseradish, and pureed beets. Fold this mixture into the flour mixture and let rest one hour.
- Place small amounts of butter at a time into a non-stick frying pan. Spoon in 1 tablespoon of batter at a time until you can fit several into the pan. As soon as bubbles begin to form on the top, flip them over for another minute, and remove from the pan. Place on a cooling rack and continue to make the blinis.
- Place a small dollop, (heaping teaspoon size) of mascarpone in the center of each blini. Place an even smaller dollop of caviar, (using a wooden spoon, or chop stick, never metal) in the center of the mascarpone. Place a sprinkle of chives across the blinis and serve soon after preparing.
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
I pinned this. I’ve never had caviar. What’s it like?