Some months ago we were celebrating our 90th birthday. We had champagne, caviar and blini – which ended up being a great combination for a great party!

M:s Blini

1/4 cup (60 ml) water
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (237 ml) sifted whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (237 ml) milk
3 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs

Heat the up water to 110°F (about 43°C) using an oven thermostat. Stir together the warm water with yeast and sugar. Let the mixture stand for about five minutes until the mixture gets foamy (small wholes on the surface). This is important! If the mixture doesn’t foam you have to start all over with new yeast. Sorry!
Melt the butter and let it cool before using. Heat up the milk to 110°F (about 43°C) . Add first the flour and salt to the foamy mixture before you stir in the warm milk, the melted cooled butter and the slightly beaten eggs. Put the bowl in a larger pan that is filled with warm water (about 1 inch). Cover the bowl and let the mixture rise in a warm place for about 1 ½ – 2 hours. The mixture should then increase in volume and have bubbles on the surface. Stir the mixture before the next step.
Heat up a sauté pan with either butter or olive oil. Lower the heat. Make small blinis by using one tablespoon batter. Sauté for about two minutes on each side until the blinis gets a beautiful golden color. Keep them warm in the oven.

Serve the blinis with black caviar and creamy sour cream. (They also work well with gravlax)

M was very determined to make the blinis as delicate as possible. He did careful research and several tests before he was really happy. The result was created from this recipe…

We also tested several different kinds of caviar and our favorite for this occasion was a quite simple black caviar from Russ & Daughters in the East Village.