Blinis Russian Pancakes With Smoked Salmon

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Blinis are Russian pancakes, usually served with caviar but also with smoked salmon and homemade aioli, a mayonnaise flavoured with garlic. A great savoury pancake option to have as a starter or for a special breakfast. Serve it with a Mimosa drink or orange juice for children to celebrate a special day.

Jump to:

• What are blinis
• An easy version of blinis
• Assemble the Blinis with salmon
• Top tips
• How to serve Russian Pancakes
• More salmon recipes
• 📋 Blini Russian Pancake with Salmon

What are blinis

Russian pancakes, called Blinis, are very popular here in France. You can find them already made at the Supermarkets in the seafood section.

They are slightly thicker than pancakes and can be regular size or small, like a bite-size, very practical for buffets.

Blinis are usually served with seafood or caviar, our favourite is smoked salmon and aioli. They are delicious also with shrimps, crab meat, smoked mackerel. To season it you can use sour cream, mayonnaise, aioli or salsa tartar.

If you don’t have time, you can buy Blinis and sauces and assemble them just before serving them.

But since the 14th is also St Valentine we are in the spirit of celebration, so I decided to make them at home, Russian Pancakes as well as the Aioli. It is not difficult and fresh blinis taste so much better.

To complement the goodness, make sure you buy a good quality smokes salmon, of course, we buy Irish.

An easy version of blinis

The proper recipe for blinis is quite complicated, it requires yeast and whipped egg whites.

This is an easier version of blinis very similar to the regular pancakes and they work very well. Baking powder is used instead of yeast and all the ingredients are mixed together all at once.

1. Blend all the ingredients for the pancakes with an electrical blender.
2. Put a heavy-based frying pan or an iron griddle over high/medium heat and wait until it is warm before cooking the pancakes
3. Pour the oil into a small cup and with the use of a brush grease lightly the pan
4. Pour the batter over the hot griddle making pancakes with 10 or 5 cm in diameter depending on your needs.
5. Once you see bubbles appearing through the batter, turn the pancakes on the other side.
6. When the pancakes are done and you removed them from the pan, brush the pan with oil again before pouring more pancakes to cook

Small blinis

If you want to serve the blinis with salmon as an aperitif or for a buffet, it is better to make small blinis. Guests can hold them in their hands and eat them in one bite.

Make the Aioli

If you don’t have time, you can buy the aioli already made, but if you want to make it yourself you can either make it with store-bought mayonnaise or with homemade mayonnaise.

If you never made homemade mayonnaise before, check out my article and you will find all the hints and tips to make a perfect homemade mayonnaise. Before you get started, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.

1. In a bowl whisk the egg with salt, pepper and the mustard.
2. Very slowly add the vegetable oil, in a thin but continuous flow.
3. Add the lemon juice or the vinegar with the minced garlic at the end
4. Keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days

If you want to make Aioli with store-bought mayonnaise, just mix it with 1 or 2 minced garlic clove.

Assemble the Blinis with salmon

1. Arrange all the blinis on a serving tray
2. First, lay a slice of salmon then add a tsp of aioli
3. Add a swirl of lemon zest on top

Top tips

• Before you start making the blinis, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature
• Make smaller blinis if you want to serve them at a buffet
• Before you cook the blinis, make sure the griddle is nicely hot
• If you want to make Aioli with store-bought mayonnaise, just mix it with 1 or 2 minced garlic clove.

How to serve Russian Pancakes

If you are hosting a dinner party you can serve small Russian Pancakes as an aperitive. If you made small blinis you can serve them on a buffet. It will be very easy for guests to help themselves. If you want to make your dinner very special, you can also serve them with caviar, like the Russians.

They should be slightly warm but they are fine at room temperature.

Blinis are a more refined version of the usual crackers and so many ways to serve them. Besides seafood, you can find more ideas in my next article 4 savory pancake ideas for a dinner party.

More salmon recipes

If you like to serve salmon as a starter I can also suggest a very easy starter: Salmon Tartare or Maki and Uramaki Sushi.

If you want to serve a delicious main dish with salmon, I would highly recommend my salmon, cod and scallops fish pie.

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