Luxury Smoked Salmon Christmas Wreath

This delicious smoked salmon salad platter served with an onion cream cheese spread would make the perfect centerpiece of a nibble spread for guests, a delicious Christmas day starter or even a late Christmas Day brunch.

It looks very impressive on the table but it is soooo simple to make and very quick to put together. The combination of ingredients and flavours really work well together and are delicious served on slices of warm crusty bread.

I have used high quality thinly sliced Scottish (of course!) smoked salmon for this dish. The quality is important if you want the flavours just right.

Sprinkled throughout the wreath are bite sized chunks of crunchy cucumbers, ripe avocado chunks, chopped cherry tomatoes, red onion and garnished with spring onions and dill.

I served the wreath up with lemon slices for squeezing on the top and my creamy onion flavoured cream cheese spread. It is absolutely delicious eaten with crusty bread spread with the cream cheese and topped with pieces of salmon and salad.

The ingredient quantities are variable so I’ve based it on what I used to serve my family a small starter portion. So this would feed roughly 4-5 as a nibble or starter. Simply increase if you are serving more.

Ingredients

Salmon Wreath

Smoked salmon slices – about a 400g pack

Half cucumber – quartered length ways then sliced

Half an avocado – scooped whole, sliced then cut into similar sized pieces as the cucmber.

Half a red onion – sliced thinly, then cut into four again

Cherry tomatoes (about 200g) – quartered

2 Spring Onions – Slice thinly

2 tbsp of Dill – chop finely

2 lemons

Cream cheese

1 small tub of cream cheese

Half a red onion, grated or finely chopped

Dill

A squeeze of lemon

Salt and pepper

Crusty bread slices

Split the smoked salmon slices into smaller pieces and display around the plate in a circular fashion. Add the cucumber, avocado, red onion, and cherry tomatoes spread out around the wreath to create a good balance of colour. Sprinkle over the chopped dill and spring onion and season lightly with salt and pepper. Remember it will be quite salty already due to the smoked salmon. Quarter the lemons and display in the middle around the bowl of cream cheese (recipe below).

Empty the cream cheese into a large bowl and add in the grated onion, chopped dill, a squeeze of lemon and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and transfer to a small bowl. Position this bowl in the center of the wreath and arrange the lemon pieces around it.

We spread some slices of the crusty bread with the cream cheese and topped off with pieces from the wreath.

Enjoy!


Chocolate Cinnamon Spiced Pancakes

I made these delicious chocolate pancakes with the delicious Pacari (details below) hot chocolate and cinnamon blend which was kindly gifted to me earlier this year by them to experiment with in recipes. Its delicious and in my opinion is a very good quality cacao for baking and hot chocolate.

I topped off these pancakes with chopped pears, seeds and nuts but you could use a variety of toppings of your choice.

They are dairy and egg free and yet still delicious! I love making a batter or cake type recipe without eggs as it means I can lick all the spoons and thats the best bit. Right? Yum yum!

The recipe is super easy and great for a lazy Sunday brunch or breakfast with the kids! They loved it of course and enjoyed it with a drizzle of date syrup. It would also make a delicious Christmas breakfast!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of spelt flour

3tbsp of cacao powder (I used Pacari’s Cinnamon blend)

2tsp of baking powder

1/2tsp of salt

1 cup of almond milk

1tbsp of melted coconut oil

3 tbsp of agave or maple syrup

1tsp of vanilla

A small handful of chocolate chips (optional)

Fruit, nuts and seeds for the topping

Drizzle – agave, maple syrup etc.

Whisk all the ingredients together adding in more flour or milk to create a thick batter. Melt a tiny amount of coconut oil on a pancake pan and spoon on a tbsp or two to make the desired size of pancake. Sprinkle on a few chocolate chips if using.

Flip once tiny bubbles appear and cook for another minute or so on the other side. Drizzle with maple syrup or date syrup and top with chopped fruit, nuts and seeds of choice. Enjoy!

Check out Pacari’s top quality chocolate products at the link below. They are also fairly traded which is important to me. 🙂

Pacari website – https://home.pacarichocolates.uk/