Blini with Creamed Goat Cheese and Mascarpone Spread with Pomegranate Caviar

Blini are essentially small buckwheat pancakes from Russia, commonly they are topped with real caviar and sour cream; I am not to into common, more jazz hands and pizzaz!

I had made these show stomping appetizer for my Pom Wonderful dinner party last week, when racking my brain over what I should serve I realized I didn't want the same old bread and dip type of stuff; I wanted to create something that made the pomegranates shine and hold their own. The combination of the pomegranate caviar, creamy cheese, and the soft pancake really lent its self to a bright and textually pleasing bite, with a fun pop of pomegranate seeds to finish it off. 

Complex, but not uptight. Like me. Wait....

Blini

What you need:

1 C. Buckwheat flour

14 oz. Sour Cream

.7 oz fresh yeast (I used dried yeast)

1 tsp Sugar

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3/4 C. Milk

1 tsp Salt

2 T melted Butter

1 egg yolk

1 egg white

Step 0: prep your yeast if you are using dry.

Step 1: Heat Sour Cream till it is warm, then add Sugar and yeast.

Step 2: In a mixing bowl (with a lid if you have one) add Buckwheat flour and sour cream contents (remember always wet to dry never reverse). Mix.

kinda messy, oops!

Step 3: Leave on the counter covered for about 2 hours or do like I did and put it in the fridge over night. Helps brake up a full day cooking mania!

this is what it looks like right after you mix.

Step 3.5: Take the dough out from the fridge and let it get back to room temp.

this is the scary post fridge version. I like to call it "when yeast attacks"!

Step 4: Heat Milk, Butter and salt in a pan, add to the dough and mix. Mix egg yolk and add that into the dough. 

Step 5: Whisk egg white into peaks, fold into dough. Your batter may look slightly runny, don't worry.

Step 6: Heat non-stick griddle or if using a pan add a bit of butter. Make silver dollar sized pancakes, flip when batter stops making bubbles. Remove and let cool.

Creamed Goat Cheese and Mascarpone Spread:

Step 1: In a mixer add goat cheese, mascarpone, and a dollop of sour cream (if you have any left over from the blinis) blend till smooth. 

Step 2: Put cream in a piping bag (or zip lock bag with corner cut off) and pipe your beautiful pancakes, make sure the pancakes aren't too hot or they will melt the cheese.

Pomegranate Caviar

Step 1: Remove fresh ariels from a fresh Pomegranate, place 3-4 on top of cheese mixture.

Step 2: Serve, Eat and be Admired!

Check out the full POM Party Here!

The blini recipe was borrowed from www.glutenfreeday.com