Party time: our top tips for creating canapés

It’s important to make sure your canapés are bite-sized, or at the very least, if they require more than one bite they won’t fall apart. They need to be robust and compact, bursting with flavour and easily picked up in one go; no one wants to be constantly cleaning their hands or awkwardly eating something while they’re engaged in conversation.

If there are different elements to a single canapé, try serving them on a sipping spoon or skewered on a cocktail stick. These Roquefort and cranberry endives use the leaves as a sort of edible bowl, containing crunchy walnut, smooth cheese and sweet cranberries, which all contrast with the mild bitterness of endive. The same idea is applied to Theo Randall’s Smoked eel canapés and Nathan Outlaw’s Cheddar scones with pickled celery and grilled figs, which pile fig slices, pickled celery and slices of Davidstow cheddar on top of mini cheese scones.

A lot of canapés need last-minute preparation, so organisation is key to a successful party; take advantage of the many recipes that can be made well in advance, then simply reheated or given a final bake in the oven before being served. This will make life much easier, and leaves you more time to enjoy your own party rather than frantically trying to give thirty mini pies an identical garnish as they go cold and your guests go hungry. Cheese straws might not have the same dainty appearance as some more traditional canapés, but you can be guaranteed they’ll be the first to go. Once the dough is made and cut into strips, the straws can be left on a baking tray ready to pop in the oven at a moment’s notice, or baked earlier in the day and left to cool and turn extra flaky. The classic party favourite is given a very British twist in James Mackenzie’s Partridge, cranberry and juniper sausage rolls, while these Prunes and Gorgonzola wrapped in pancetta bites just need reheating in the oven right before serving.

If you’re hosting a soirée that’s just for you and a few friends, then the food might not need to be as polished and dainty as traditional canapés tend to be. Dishes that are easily shared amongst a crowd are often the perfect solution for more informal gatherings, and give you a lot more time to enjoy the night. A fondue always goes down a treat when there’s around six people getting together for a chat over a meal, and this one with Cornish cheddar and root vegetables is seasonal, simple and very, very tasty. If you’re just looking for a light snack to serve alongside some drinks, then you can’t go wrong with Flatbread and dips – making your own rather than buying in plastic pots makes all the difference. And when you’re really ready to relax with just a few close friends or family members, you can ditch the cutlery entirely and get stuck into Alfred Prasad’s delicious Pepper chicken; just remember to put a stack of napkins on the table.