The best canapé recipes

Whatever the celebration, we've selected the best canapé recipes for fun finger food and sophisticated snacks.

Bite-size party food should be a pleasure to look at and easy for guests to eat while they have a drink in hand. These are our favourite canapé recipes, from savoury pastries and delicious dips to mini cakes and desserts.

Apricot jam and stilton canapés

It takes about 30 minutes to make 45 stilton canapés with this recipe by Alison Clarkson. It's pretty simple, using puff pastry, stilton cheese, apricot jam and chopped walnuts, plus beaten egg to brush the pastry before baking. Perfect for the festive season.

Thai-spiced fishcakes

Try to use sustainable white fish like pollock, whiting or gurnard for these delicious little thai-spiced bites. Scatter with crushed roasted peanuts to serve.

Rachel de Thample

Feta pastry cigars

Sabrina Ghayour's individual cigar-shaped Turkish pastries are stuffed with feta cheese, Greek yoghurt and a hint of dried mint. The recipe makes 24 pastries, which are scattered with nigella seeds.

Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton/Persiana

Creamy beetroot and thyme dip

A wonderfully rich dip that's perfect for crudites. This beetroot, garlic and thyme dip has a creamy texture – although it's fat free – and a beautiful rich colour that's sure to impress.

Leyla Kazim

Tom Aikens' mini pumpkin and ricotta tarts with spiced honey

You could use pumpkin or butternut squash (Tom recommends organic) for these mouthwatering mini tarts. The recipe includes a step-by-step for making your own spiced honey, which needs a day to infuse with spices including star anise, cinnamon and cloves, plus fennel, cumin and coriander seeds.

Tom Aikens/greatbritishchefs.com

Avocado and salmon canapés

These canapés should be made immediately before the party, to keep them fresh. You'll need salmon, a ripe avocado, wholemeal bread, fresh chives or parsley and parmesan – and around 10 minutes for preparation.

Steve Lee/Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute

Spicy paneer and spinach bites

These vegetarian bite-sized party snacks are packed with Indian flavours and spice from the ginger, chilli and coriander. Paneer, a type of fresh, mild cheese, is fairly easy to make at home, or you can buy it from most supermarkets.

Maunika Gowardhan

Nadiya Hussain's Wellington sausage rolls

Sausage rolls might not be the most sophisticated canapé, but these are golden and flaky and have a bit of added heat from a hint of English mustard. Great British Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain adds finely chopped mushrooms to the sausage meat to make the filling darker and more luxurious.

Nadiya Hussain

Goat's curd crostini with honey roasted beetroot and honeycomb

You'll need a sugar thermometer to make the homemade honeycomb in this recipe (it's worth going to the trouble – and you can store it in an airtight container until needed). If you can't get hold of goat's curd, then just replace it with a good soft goat's cheese.

Paul Merrett/Cons Sur Wines