Puff Pastry Baskets with Salmon Mousse. If you’re looking for a spectacular seafood appetizer that’s fun to eat and can be made the day before — perfect for your holiday seafood menu — these puff pastry baskets with salmon mousse are just what you need. They are small single-serve appetizers filled with a salmon cream and decorated with pistachio crumbs and pomegranate arils, which will bring color, flavor and joy to the table, just like the Puff Pastry Christmas Wreath or the Savory Salmon Bavarian. Let’s go to the kitchen — the simple goodness of these quick and showy Christmas appetizers will amaze you. If you want to stay updated on all my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
Take a look:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas, New Year's Eve
Ingredients to make Puff Pastry Baskets with Salmon Mousse
- 3 rolls puff pastry (rectangular)
- 100 g heavy cream (35% fat) (not sweet — approx. 3.5 oz)
- 200 g cream cheese (about 7 oz (approx. 7/8 cup))
- 250 g mascarpone (about 8.8 oz (≈ 1 cup))
- 150 g smoked salmon (for the mousse — about 5.3 oz)
- 60 g smoked salmon (for garnish — about 2.1 oz)
- to taste crushed pistachios (for garnish)
- to taste pomegranate arils (for garnish)
- 2 lemons (juice and zest)
- to taste salt
Tools
- Muffin pan for muffins
- Baking cups for muffins
- Baking beads
- Round cutter
- Oven
- Blender
- Mixer
Preparation
Unroll the puff pastry and, using a 4-inch round cutter, cut circles. Place the circles into the molds and then place a second circle on top of each one.
Prick with the tines of a fork, and place a paper baking cup inside each one.
Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 392°F for 15 minutes or until golden. If you don’t have ceramic or steel baking beads, the pastry will puff up during baking and you’ll need to hollow it out with the help of a knife (see photo).
In a bowl, combine the cream cheese and the very cold heavy cream; add the grated lemon zest, the lemon juice and the smoked salmon,
blend until you obtain a smooth mixture and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Add the mascarpone, the juice of the second lemon and season with salt. Whip until you obtain a light, fluffy mixture — thanks to the lemon juice the mixture will gain body. Fill a piping bag with the mixture and pipe into the baskets.
Decorate your appetizers with crushed pistachios,
slices of smoked salmon and pomegranate arils, then serve.
Storage and Tips
You can prepare the baskets a few days in advance and store them in an airtight container (make sure they are dry and well baked). The mousse can also be made one to two days ahead and kept in the fridge, but I recommend assembling everything shortly before serving.
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