If you are hosting a garden party, wedding evening event, informal corporate do, or another event that requires delicious food, canapes can be an excellent choice. They are informal, easy to serve, and flexible, which means guests can choose what suits them rather than you – as the organiser – having to meet individual dietary requirements. Canapes are also fun and delicious, and you can easily adjust what you serve to suit the event theme and your budget.
Who provides canapes?
You can often order canapes from your regular catering company. If you already order in office lunch delivery from a company such as www.crumbsdelivered.co.uk/index.php/product-category/lunch/, this is a good place to start.
Canape ideas to consider
Easy and low-cost choices could include spicy and sweet popcorn bowls, vegetable crudites with dips, pitta bread with houmous, and fruit sticks. For fancier canapes, you could make pastry pinwheels, serve smoked salmon blinis, or think about themed crudites such as Indian samosas, bhajis, and mini naan bread with chutneys. For an American-themed event, you could serve tiny portions of fries in paper wraps and mini burgers in buns; for a French-style event, think about serving delicious cheese portions with slices of baguette or breadsticks. The only limit is your imagination.
You can also make sweet crudites such as mini cupcakes or cookies with fresh fruit cups, or even serve mini ice-creams or handmade chocolates depending on your event and the guests. Canapes can be a lot of fun to make and serve and tend to be very well received by guests, as their variation makes them naturally exciting.
So many benefits to canapes
They are also very easy to serve; for example, you can simply place your canapes around the event for guests to enjoy as they wish or have service staff on hand to circulate with platters. Whatever the occasion, these delicious canapes will be well received by everyone and are far easier, cheaper, and more enjoyable to serve than a formal sit-down dinner, so everyone wins.
Which delicious canapes will you serve at your next event?
Canapes from the store cupboard
Canapes do not always need a special shop. Many good ones can be made from ingredients already in the kitchen. The end of a baguette, frozen and then thinly sliced and toasted, makes a base for mini bruschettas topped with diced red onion, tomato and basil.
A pack of chipolatas glazed with honey and mustard and served in halves on sticks is always popular. Small potatoes can be baked and topped with soured cream and chives, with a little bacon if you like. A simple pastry of flour, butter and water can carry smoked salmon or be turned into miniature cheese and onion rolls, baked in the oven or air fryer.
Finally, check the fridge. Cucumber, carrot or pitta bread cut into sticks and served with hummus or another dip make easy nibbles that suit most guests and take minutes to prepare.