Mini-corncakes with avocado & lime salsa

Put simply, canapés are nothing more than tops and bottoms, with endless variations ensuring you will never, ever, get bored with serving them. And they needn’t be difficult to prepare – they perfectly complement your aperitif, giving you some sustenance while you maybe wait for some guests to arrive or chat away before sitting down for the meal proper. In UK supermarkets, you have a wide selection of pre-made finger food available, either frozen (vol-au-vents, mini-quiches) or from the chiller cabinet (salmon rolls, cheese bites). But how much more enjoyment you get out of making your own! And I am not talking about buying some olives, cheese and a box of toothpicks, but to make your very own canapés – go on, you know you can do it!
Whether you buy the bottoms and make your own tops (blinis with smoked salmon and a home-made horse-radish crème fraîche or bruschette topped with tomato and mozzarella for example) or decide to make everything from scratch, there are plenty of options that can be prepared well in advance, allowing you to concentrate on the dinner proper.
A new canapé I tried out last week was particularly successful. It is based on a recipe out of Diva Cooking – tried and trusted bible for glorious, yet simple party food – and consists of a fritter made with fresh (or tinned) sweetcorn and a simple batter of cornmeal, spiced up with chilli flakes and coriander, which you can prepare at least a day ahead. Top this with a thick and chunky salsa of avocado and lime juice, again with the addition of coriander leaves and fresh chilli to taste (or store-bought guacamole, if you don’t want to make your own or can’t find ripe avocados) – a lovely, refreshing canapé to enjoy with a glass of chilled white wine (an Italian Pinot Grigio or a New World Riesling or Verdelho, for instance) or bubbly to preceed a more formal dinner or a jug of freshly prepared margarita or mojito when you’re organising a girlie night in!

This recipe is my contribution to Festa Al Fresco, an open air party hosted by Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice who are asking to bring along a dish using a seasonal ingredient - if you're still keen to participate, do so before the 5th of September! 

Mini-corncakes with avocado & lime salsa
(yields 30)

60 g corn flour
60 g plain flour
1 level tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
5 tbsp milk
20 g butter, melted
1 pinch chilli flakes
125 g sweetcorn kernels (fresh or tinned)
2 spring onions (finely chopped)
salt, pepper
vegtable oil for frying

For the salsa:
3 medium avocados
3 tbsp red pepper (finely cut)
1 garlic clove (crushed)
1 handful coriander leaves (chopped)
juice of 1 lime
salt, pepper
coriander leaves to decorate

Combine all the ingredients for the corn cakes in a mixing bowl, mixing the dough loosely with a fork.
Heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan. Drop teaspoons full of the batter into the hot pan, flattening as much as possible into a round. Fry until browning, then turn over and flatten to ca. half a centimetre with the aid of a spoon or fork. Fry until browning, then lift and drain on some paper towel. Fry in batches until you've used up all the dough. Leave the corn cakes to cool before topping. You can keep the corn cakes in a metal tin (to retain the crispness) for a day. You can also freeze the cakes and defrost, then crisp up in the oven before putting the topping on.
For the salsa, cut the avocados in half, retaining one of the stones. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and mash up roughly in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and season to taste. Leave the avocado stone in the salsa until serving, this will prevent it from browning.
When ready to serve (and up to 30 minutes in advance), arrange a teaspoon of the salsa on each corncake, decorate with coriander leaves and serve.

Comments

[Tanna]

No wonder Angelika says you are such an inspiration! This sounds easy to do and excellent!

[Meg]

This sounds delicious, Johanna! I am having some friends over for dinner on the weekend and I'll be scrolling through your archives for other good canape ideas (this one will definitely be on the menu, though).

[angelika]

No wonder that Tanns says you are the queen of small bites. And I know what Meg is talking about.. I did not know that the stone prevents avos from browning, that's interesting. I mean I drizzle them with lime or lemon juice to avoid this, but thank you for sharing this tipp. Have a nice weekend !

[Ivonne]

Joanna,

Would you mind doing me a favour? When you arrive at the festa, please come sit by me so that I can gobble these all up without having to share. (Terrbile hostess aren't I?!)

These are just gorgeous and I thank you for sharing them with us and for coming to the festa!

[Lisa]

Joanna, these canapes look so very delicious.. and what a way to represent fresh summer ingredients. Fantastic! Thank you so much for bringing them to the party.. they will be enjoyed by all, of that I'm sure! (well, that is, if Ivonne will share) :D

[Scott]

Excellent tip about leaving the Avocado stone in to prevent browning, one that not many people seem to know about.
The most interesting part of this recipe is the dip, and it's something I'm going to have to try.

[johanna]

leaving the avocado stone in is one of the many secrets about Mexican cooking I learnt while living there. discarded by many as an old wife's tale, I have found it to work every time!

[Jeanne]

Hi Johanna

Oh yes, you truly are the queen of the canape!! These look gorgeous (as always) and I can just imagine how great they will taste. The avo stone trick is a great one - it does sound like an old wives' tale - but it really does work!

[Kalyn]

Just beautiful and they should delicious.

[Emma]

Thanks for your entry to DMBLGIT - have a look at all the entries here : http://picasaweb.google.com/DMBLGIT200610/DoesMyBlogLookGoodInThis200610October

Great idea for finger food (which I happen to think is one of the best kinds of foods!).

[Piperita]

Wonderful apertizer! And avocado and lime are wonderful toghether!

[dawnielle]

J-

Those look lovely and here in CA we get great avocados all year...so yummy may pair with a tart margarita!

May I ask what spring onions are? Are they like green onions....long and thin green stems with small bulb?

[Julie]

I was really excited about this recipe but the fritters were really oily and tasted overwhelmingly of baking powder...is that quantity correct?