Lemon aspen and sea urchin roe canapés

This smart canape recipe makes enough for 20 small bites. For those who are unsure about cleaning sea urchin, ask your fishmonger for pre-prepared roe - it usually comes neatly lined up in a plastic tray.

Lemon aspen and sea urchin roe canapés Credit: On Country Kitchen

• makes

  20

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 small French baguette
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Pink lake salt, for sprinkling  
• 250 ml (1 cup) crème fraîche
• 1 tbsp lemon aspen syrup (see note)
• Pinch of ground dehydrated lemon aspen (see note)
• 1 small bunch of chives, finely sliced
• 4 red sea urchins

Instructions

1. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Cut the baguette into 1 cm- thick slices. You will need 20 slices. Brush both sides with oil and place on a baking tray. Season liberally with salt, then grill on both sides until golden.  

2. Meanwhile, place the crème fraîche, lemon aspen syrup, dehydrated lemon aspen and three-quarters of the chives in a bowl and stir to combine well.  

3. Carefully remove the roe tongues from the shells. Spoon a teaspoon of crème fraîche crème mixture onto each crouton, then top with a piece of roe and a sprinkling of the remaining chives. Serve immediately.

Note:

Native to far north Queensland, lemon aspen is a pale lemon coloured fruit with an intense citrus amora. The juice has a very strong acid flavour of lemon with a hint of grapefruit. Lemon aspen juice, the sweetened syrup and the dehydrated fruit are available online from native food stores.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.