Canapés are the ultimate classy catering option. Bite sized, flavour packed little parcels that look beautiful and can be popped in your mouth with one hand whilst holding a drink in the other!

Really nice looking canapés should all be uniform in size and appearance, this might sound really faffy and time consuming, but if you keep it simple with flavours and ingredients it's really very easy.

Ingredients: Makes about 20 canapé

10 slices very fresh brown bread- you want something without seeds or large grains

1/2 cup/115g cream cheese

1/4 cup/65g sour cream

2 tablespoons horseradish sauce- if using fresh grated horseradish only use 1 tablespoon

7 oz/200g thin sliced smoked salmon

salt and pepper

Method:

You want to use very fresh brown bread so that it will 'squash' very thinly when rolled. The fresher the bread the more supple it will be, thinner it will roll and crunchier your bread cups.

Roll out the slices of bread until they are very thin and don't bounce to their original shape. Cut out two circles from each slice using a cutter about 1 & 1/2in/4cm in diameter.

Use a mini muffin tin (your job will be mad quicker and simpler if you have two identical tins), spray the tin with and oil mister or rub a little oil into each impression then lay a bread circle over each indentation. If you have a second tin, lay out all the circles first then press the second tin on top of and into the first, this will uniformly press the circles into the dents and form all your cups in one go. If you don't have a second tin use the end of a rolling pin, wine cork or some other blunt object to push the circles into the muffin tin.

Bake the cups at about 260f for 15-20 minutes to dry out the cups, they should not colour just dry out and become crunchy and set into their cup shape. Leave the cups to cool.

You can bake the offcuts of bread in a separate pan whilst baking the cups, whizz these baked offcuts and store for on hand wholemeal breadcrumbs.

Whip the cream cheese, sour cream and horseradish together into a thick mousse, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Thinly slice the salmon into strands and jumble to separate.

When the cups are completely cool, dollop a teaspoon of cream into each cup. If you are doubling or tripling this recipe or want to make this part quick and less fiddly you can decant the cream into a piping bag.

Pinch a few strands of salmon and set atop each cream filled cup, share out the salmon equally among the cups.

This is a really classic flavour combination that goes really well with champagne or sparkling wine for a special occasion or entertaining.