WHAT ARE THEY?
Mini blinis topped with a mascarpone and dill cream, smoked trout and strips of pickled ginger, served cold.
TIME TO MAKE
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Resting: 1 night
EQUIPMENT
Mandoline or cheese slicer
Cookie cutter (3–4 cm diameter)
Piping bag (fluted 8 mm nozzle)
ADVICE
For even blinis, pour the batter into a heatproof cookie cutter placed in the hot pan or even use a blini pan with 3–4 cm holes.
TRICKY ASPECT
Cooking the blinis
TECHNIQUES TO MASTER
STORAGE
The pickled ginger will keep in the refrigerator for several months.
WHY HEAT THE VINEGAR?
The heat allows the sugar to dissolve completely.
ORGANISATION
1 week before | Pickle the ginger.
1 day before | Make the blinis.
On the day | Make the mascarpone cream.
3 hours before | Assemble the pieces and set aside in the refrigerator.
MAKES 25
1 TROUT
200 g sliced smoked trout
2 BLINI BATTER
30 g egg yolk (about 2 eggs)
10 g oil
125 g milk
7 g fresh baker’s yeast, crumbled
125 g plain flour
30 g unsalted butter
pinch of salt
45 g egg white (about 1½ eggs)
10 g sugar
3 MASCARPONE & DILL CREAM
½ bunch dill
175 g whipping cream (35 per cent fat)
10 g lemon juice
salt and pepper
75 g mascarpone
4 PICKLED GINGER
100 g fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fine salt
100 g rice vinegar
50 g sugar
1 To make the pickled ginger, peel the ginger and slice thinly using a mandoline or cheese slicer.
2 Bring 1 litre water to the boil and cook the ginger slices for 5–10 minutes. Drain and sprinkle over the fine salt.
3 Bring the vinegar and sugar to the boil in a small saucepan and stir for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Place the ginger in a container with an airtight lid, pour over the vinegar and sugar syrup, then seal and shake gently to coat the ginger in the liquid. Set aside in the refrigerator overnight, or ideally for a week.
4 Make the blinis following the method, making them 3–4 cm diameter.
5 To make the mascarpone cream, finely chop the dill. Whip the cream. When it is almost stiff, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and finish beating.
6 Gently whisk the mascarpone, then carefully fold in the whipped cream and dill. Adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a piping bag with a fluted 8 mm nozzle.
7 Wash the pickled ginger slices, then dry them on paper towel and cut into julienne strips.
8 Pipe a rosette of mascarpone cream on each blini. Cut a piece of smoked trout, fold in a ruffle and add to the top of the cream. Scatter over a few ginger strips. Repeat the process until all the ingredients have been used.
