Delicate, thin dill crepes with smoked salmon make absolutely impressive, irresistibly delicious appetizer to jazz up your cocktail party!
Yes, I’m on a mission to bring you more savory crepe ideas. I love, love, LOVE crepes. I bet you can tell that by now after this, this and this. Oh, can’t forget this and this crepe cakes! My love for crepes, or blinchiki (in Russian) goes way back. I practically grew up on these delicately thin pancakes.
Today, I combined two of my absolute favorites in one. Crepes and smoked salmon. I simply adore smoked salmon, whether it’s cold-smoked or hot-smoked. You may wonder what’s the difference between those 2 types. No worries, I’ve explained the difference in this post. In this recipe, we will need cold-smoked salmon, which has velvety smooth texture.
And because smoked salmon pairs so well with dill, I threw whole bunch of fresh dill in the crepe batter. The best decision ever! Just look at the beautiful green specks in the crepes. The dill flavor is just strong enough to compliment the velvety smoked salmon without overpowering the entire dish. To glue these two components, I made creamy, tangy and simple sour cream/mayo sauce.
The crepes make absolutely perfect appetizer, because you can prepare them a day in advance. Simply wrap the cooked crepes and refrigerate until ready to assemble. I recommend assembling the appetizers the day you plan to serve.
Shaping the crepes into these beautiful cones (?) is a bit tedious, but don’t you agree they’re totally worth it? The first couple of them will be kind of funny looking, but I promise you’ll get the hang of it. Let me try to describe how I fold the crepes for a beautiful presentation. First, place the crepe on a clean surface the pale side down (usually one side is darker than the other). Smear a bit of the filling on one half of the crepe, leaving the edges clean. Place a piece of smoked salmon on the top edge, fold the bottom half of the crepe just so that smoked salmon is peeking on top. Flip the crepe over and fold the bottom of the crepe, as pictured. And finally, roll from one end to another and secure with a toothpick.
If you don’t feel like folding and rolling, then keep it simple and fold the crepes into triangles. The same delicious appetizer in equally elegant presentation. Choice is yours.
Now, tell me, have you had savory crepes before? If so, what is your favorite savory filling?
Dill Crepes with Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
For Dill Crepes:
- 0.7 oz 20gr fresh dill
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups 480ml whole milk
- 1 ½ cup 190gr all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
For Filling:
- ¼ cup 60gr sour cream
- ¼ cup 60gr mayo
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3.5 oz 100gr smoked salmon*
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and salt on medium speed, about 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Then add flour and baking powder and mix well until smooth, about a minute. A few lumps are ok. Stir in chopped dill and vegetable oil. Cover the batter with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Heat 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium high heat. (The bottom of my 10-inch pan measures 7 inches, which means the crepes will be 7-inch round.) Place a little less than ¼ cup of batter into the hot pan, quickly swirl the pan so the batter is evenly covers the bottom of the pan. In about 1 minute, when the edges of the crepe start to pull away, flip it over using a spatula. Cook for about 30 seconds or so and stack the crepes on a plate. You’ll get about 20 crepes. Cool the crepes completely. At this point you can wrap the crepes with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to a day.
- To make the filling, in a small bowl, combine sour cream and mayo with ground black pepper.
- To assemble, place the crepe on a clean surface and spread a little bit of filling on one half of the crepe, leaving the edges clean. Place a piece of smoked salmon on one edge of the crepe, then fold the other end over just so that a piece of salmon peeks from the top, as pictured above. Then turn the crepe on other side and fold the bottom again, roll from one end to another and secure with a toothpick. Alternatively, you can simply spread the filling all over the crepe, place the salmon on one half of the crepe, fold it in half then fold it again into a triangle. Serve at room temperature.
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
Could you use canned salmon and mix it in with the mayo and other ingredients.
Hi, Heidi. I think you could, but I’ve never tried this with canned salmon, so can’t give any advice.
Thank you so much for this recipe! Our family gathers each Christmas for potluck brunch, and we all love smoked salmon. When I saw your dill crepe recipe, I thought this would be perfect! The crepes turned out a big hit, and my only mistake was not doubling the recipe. Due to time constraint, I ended up just folding them into little triangles,
Maria, I’m so glad everyone loved the crepes. It’s such a great combo with smoked salmon. Thank you so much for coming back and leaving your feedback. Have a Happy New Year!
That touch of dill just brings your entire dish together. These crepes are just beautiful.
Thank you, Christine! 🙂
These are absolutely gorgeous!! The crepes sounds delicious and the presentation is just beautiful! Great work!!
Thank you, Elysia!
OMG, I love your food presentation and photography! I found this through the newsletter of Yummly for Mother’s Day. Too bad my mom and I are not in the same country right now, but I am definitely adding this recipe to my collections!
Thank you so much, Cindy! You and I are in the same boat. I wish my mom was nearby, but she lives in Mongolia. 🙂
These are so beautiful I knew the second I saw them, I’d make them. Tonight I made the crepes! My first try at crepes and they turned out great!!! Maybe a tad thicker than yours, any suggestions on how to get them thinner next time? Maybe I didn’t do my flour carefully enough and had too much. Serving them at a party tomorrow, I know they will be a hit 🙂 Thanks!
Yay, I’m so glad you tried these! Thank you, Cassia. This crepe batter is quite forgiving. So if you feel like the batter is too thick, simply add a bit of milk to thin it out. Hope this helps.
By the way, if you take a photo of your crepes and e-mail it to me (or post it on instagram with hashtag #sweetandsavorybyshinee), I’ll share it on “From Your Kitchen” page on my blog. (Of course, you don’t have to, but I’d love to see your photos.)
I love savory crepes these sound delicious! Visiting from The Weekend Retreat 🙂
Thank you, Joy!
This is so pretty! I love when food can look like this!
Me too. 😉 Thank you, Jennie!
Hi! Visiting from Totally Terrific Tuesday. This looks yummy just like all your other dishes! Totally jealous right now!
Thank you, Ashleyq!
I love smoked salmon or gravlax but never combined it with dill crepes and it looks wonderful! My husband catches salmon and makes fresh gravlax so I will now need him to break out the crepe pan!! Pinned! ~ Saludos ~ Analida
Oh, you’re so lucky, Analida! I’m so jealous of all the fresh salmon you get to enjoy. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.