Blini with Smoked Salmon

Ingredients

• 120 g buckwheat flour
• 120 g plain flour
• 5 g fast-action dried yeast
• 300 ml warm milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 60 g butter, melted, plus more for the pan
• 300 g smoked salmon
• 250 g soured cream
• a handful of dill
• 1 lemon, in wedges
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced

Method

1. Start a yeasted batter

   Whisk both flours, the yeast and the warm milk into a smooth batter. Blini are yeast-raised, not baking-powder pancakes — that ferment is where the faintly sour, complex flavour comes from.

2. Prove the batter

   Cover and leave in a warm place for an hour until visibly bubbly and risen.

   1 h

3. Enrich, then lighten

   Beat in the egg yolks and melted butter. Whisk the whites to soft peaks separately and fold them through. The whites go in last and make the difference between a blin and a small heavy pancake.

4. Rest 15 minutes

   Let the finished batter sit briefly so the whites settle into it without collapsing.

   15 min

5. Cook small and buttery

   Cook tablespoons of batter in a buttered pan over a medium heat until bubbles rise and burst, then flip. They should be about 6 cm across — bite-sized, not breakfast-sized.

   5 min

6. Serve warm

   Top with soured cream, smoked salmon, dill, red onion and a squeeze of lemon. They can be made ahead and warmed briefly, but they are best straight from the pan.