CHRISTMAS brings plenty of parties to host, so here are a few great recipes for canapés that are very easy to make but very impressive.

Potato Skins with Smoked Trout and Horseradish Cream (makes 34): You will need six medium red potatoes, pricked over with a fork; olive oil; 100g crème fraiche; 1 tbsp grated fresh horseradish or 2 tbsp horseradish sauce; 150g smoked trout, cut into small pieces; one small red onion, finely chopped; small bunch roughly chopped fresh dill.

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/ Gas 4. Bake the potatoes for about 45 minutes until tender.

Let them cool then cut each into four wedges. Scoop out most of the cooked potato (keep this and use for another recipe, fishcakes, bubble and squeak or just as mash) leaving a shell of potato and skin about 1cm thick.

Brush with a little oil on both sides and season well with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.

Put them on a wire rack, set on top of an oven tray and bake for 30 minutes, leave them until they are just warm.

Mix the crème fraiche with the horseradish and season. Put a dollop of the horseradish crème fraiche into each potato skin.

Top with some smoked trout and sprinkle with the red onion and fresh dill.

Honey and Rosemary Cocktail Sausages

All you need for this recipe are 25 cocktail sausages; 2 tbsp runny honey; 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary. This recipe will make 25.

Pre-heat your oven to 190°C/ Gas 5, arrange the sausages on an oiled baking tray and bake for 15 minutes.

Drizzle the honey and rosemary over and shake to coat well.

Let them bake for a further five minutes and serve warm on cocktail sticks.

Blinis are the perfect party food – great with smoked salmon and a glass of Champagne.

To prepare perfect blinis, you’ll need 70g buckwheat flour; 70g plain flour; ½ tsp baking powder; ½ tsp dried yeast; 175ml warmed milk; one egg yolk; one egg white; 125g butter.

These quantities will make around 30.

First sift the buckwheat flour, plain flour and baking powder together in a bowl.

Whisk the dried yeast with the warmed milk.

Add the egg yolk and a knob of soft butter and whisk this mixture with the flour and baking powder to form a smooth batter.

Whisk the egg white to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the batter.

Next you need to “clarify'” the butter, to stop it from burning.

To do this, let the butter melt slowly in a small saucepan, until a clear yellow liquid forms on top.

Pour off the clear liquid into a small bowl and discard the white bit left behind.

To assemble, heat the clarified butter in a frying pan and drop in dessertspoons of the batter, cook until the surface starts to bubble, and flip over and cook the other side until golden brown.

Serve with smoked salmon on top and a little soured cream.