It's Celebration Season: You Need A Great Canapé Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes a great canapé? ›

Canapés are the ultimate culinary signal that this is an occasion to savour. They serve a variety of purposes. From stimulating appetite to satiating hungry guests. Encouraging people to drink more whilst also preventing them getting too tipsy.

There are 4 distinctive elements of a canapé – the base, spread, a topping & a garnish. Canape base ingredients are usually bread, puff pastry or crackers, allowing a solid foundation for the rest of the canapé. Then there is spread followed by the topping.

A canapé (French: [kanape]) is a type of starter, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread (sometimes toasted) or cracker, wrapped or topped with some savoury food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite.

The base of a canapé is usually made from a small piece of bread or toast, a pastry shell, a blini, or a cracker. The spread of a canapé helps add moisture and flavour while also preventing the base from going soggy. It also helps 'glue' the toppings onto the bread and prevents them from slipping off.

We would normally recommend around 4-5 canapés per person for the first hour followed by 2-3 canapés per person for each subsequent hour. Therefore a private party at home where no other food is being served we would suggest a minimum 10 canapés per person for a standard 4 hour party.

Canapés are typically made with an edible base – crackers, blinis, bread or pastry, and served cold. Hors d'oeuvres are small bites of something tasty and can be both savoury or sweet, and served hot or cold.

All about canapes (pronounced “can-a-PAY”) is word French which means “sofa” a nod to the toppings which “sit” on top of a piece of bread. Canapes were served on stale bread a few years back and now it has grown into a wider term for finger food.

Why are canapés so expensive? ›

Cons: Many people ask why canapés always seem so expensive for such a small thing. This is true, but it comes down to the amount of time it takes to create them, and the variety of ingredients involved. Your guests will likely drink more than at a sit down event, so your alcohol costs might go up.

In other words, all canapés are hors d'oeuvres, but not all hors d'oeuvres are canapés. Hors d'oeuvres are finger food, small one- or two-bite items that are served before dinner, usually accompanied by co*cktails.

Taste, colour and texture

Obviously they have to taste good, but don't forget that each one has to look inviting as well. A contrast of textures is always more pleasant than a single one; if you're serving something creamy, for example, adding a crunchy element will make the mouthful much more interesting.

What Are the Main Ingredients of Canapés? Canapés are hors d'oeuvres featuring a base of bread, toast, pastry or crackers with various savory toppings, served either hot or cold.

Canapé is from the French work meaning sofa or bed. Any small culinary presentation on a piece of bread, puff pastry, short crust or similar (which is the bed) can be called a 'canapé'. These bread bases can be prepared in three simple ways: toasted, with butter or fried in oil.

If you're creating your own canapés, then the most important things to remember are taste, colour and texture. Obviously they have to taste good, but don't forget that each one has to look inviting as well.

When making your selection, make sure you cater for all tastes and preferences – have seafood, meat, poultry and vegetarian/vegan canapés. Think of allergies and include dairy and gluten free options as well. As Wellington's leading canapé caterer, we have designed a lot of our menus to suit all special diets.