Most people love smoked salmon, so I knew that smoked salmon hors d’oeuvres was a must-have when I was designing the menu for John’s housewarming party.  Lemon and cream cheese or mascarpone cheese are standard toppings for smoked salmon and cucumber canapés (see my smoked salmon and lemon mascarpone crostini recipe here).  I wanted to use something lighter this time, so I was planning on topping my canapés with sour cream.  But in the mad rush to get all of the food out as guests started to arrive, I accidentally piped something else onto my hors d’oeuvres.  I didn’t even realize the happy mistake until the end of the night, when I was putting everything away.  I lost count of how many of these we made, and we had none leftover.  People loved and complimented these, thinking that I had used a light and airy cheese topping.  Even I didn’t notice the swap (shame on you, palate).  It turns out, that just a small dollop of unsweetened whipped cream works absolutely beautifully (if not better than sour cream, cream cheese, and mascarpone) atop smoked salmon and cucumber.  Here’s a toast to happy accidents!  I plan to use whipped cream for these hors d’oeuvres again in the future.  Now… what am I going to do with all of the sour cream that I bought?

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