Smoked Salmon Blinis (Buckwheat Salmon Roe)

Blinis are small savoury pancakes. They are typically served with caviar and smoked salmon accompanied with some soured cream and melted butter.

buckwheat flour (100 g)
all-purpose flour, unbleached (62 g)
1½ tsp. instant dry yeast
¼ tsp. sea salt
milk, warm (300 mL)
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 medium eggs, separated
smoked salmon (150 g)
salmon roe (150 g)
sour cream (100 g)

Garnish:
fresh dill sprig

Sift the flours into a large bowl, add the yeast, and mix well. Make a well in the center and pour into the warm milk (max. body temperature or you will kill the yeast if too hot). Mix to a batter and beat for a couple of minutes to get rid of any lumps. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise for half an hour, by which stage it should have formed a bubbly batter.

Using a fork, beat the bubbles out of the batter. Add the melted butter and the two egg yolks and beat them in. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold into the batter. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Using melted butter, grease a cast iron five-blini pan and heat the pan on medium heat. Add a spoonful of the batter on each round and fry until bubbles rise to the surface and the underside is brown.

With a small spatula, flip the blinis over and cook the other sides for about one minute until brown. Repeat the process with the rest of the batter.

Keep the blinis warm, and then serve with a half tsp. of sour cream, smoked salmon, salmon roe and dill sprig.

Makes 8 servings.