If you are looking for a tasty idea for Christmas appetizers, the Christmas tree puff pastries with salmon are the perfect recipe: simple, quick, and scenic. You only need three ingredients – puff pastry, cream cheese, and smoked salmon – to turn a classic combination into an irresistible Christmas snack, perfect for enriching the holiday buffet or bringing an elegant appetizer to the table without stress.
Puff pastry is the true joker of quick Christmas recipes because it allows you to create beautiful appetizers in just a few minutes that are always highly appreciated. These puff pastry trees, reminiscent of the most beloved holiday symbols, are a simple way to add a decorative touch to the menu. A few years ago, I had prepared the Christmas tree of puff pastry rolls, which everyone loved; this year, instead, I chose to focus on these single-serving versions, even more practical and versatile.
Skewered on a wooden stick, they can also become edible Christmas place cards: just stick a small sticker with the guest’s name on the stick. And the preparation is so easy that you can involve even the children: a fun way to let them participate in setting the Christmas table.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 11 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
- Energy 161.55 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 9.65 (g) of which sugars 0.31 (g)
- Proteins 6.57 (g)
- Fat 10.74 (g) of which saturated 1.29 (g)of which unsaturated 6.78 (g)
- Fibers 0.39 (g)
- Sodium 302.39 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 40 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 11 puff pastry Christmas trees with salmon
If you are celiac, you can make the salmon trees using gluten-free puff pastry already prepared, even round.
- 1 roll puff pastry (rectangular)
- 3.5 oz stracchino (or other spreadable cheese)
- 5.3 oz smoked salmon
- to taste pink peppercorns (optional, for decoration)
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Knife
- 11 Skewers long
- 1 Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
How to prepare Christmas tree place cards with puff pastry and salmon
To prepare the Christmas tree puff pastries with salmon, start by unrolling the puff pastry on the work surface. Position it horizontally, then with a knife start spreading the cream cheese over it (1). I used stracchino, but robiola, Philadelphia, ricotta, goat cheese are also fine… Form a thin layer, almost reaching the edges (2). Place the smoked salmon slices on top (3).
Do not overfill the puff pastry, otherwise when you fold it, it will be difficult to form the Christmas trees. With a knife, cut vertical strips about 1 cm (0.4 in) or slightly wider (4). You should get 13 strips (5). Gently detach one strip at a time and position it horizontally in front of you. Take one end and fold it over itself for a few cm: this will be the wider base of your tree (6).
Then take the other end and fold it over itself (7), almost covering the previously folded part. Continue folding the puff pastry strip accordion-style, decreasing the length of the fold as you go up (8). The goal is to form a kind of triangle (9).
With a wooden skewer, skewer it starting from the bottom (10). Proceed in the same way with another 10 strips. You will have 2 left: if you want, you can form two more trees with these (13 in total), otherwise, you can use them to make small stars to add to the top of the already formed trees (you will then have a total of 11). In this case, overlap the two remaining strips so that the filling stays inside (11). Press well to seal them (12).
With a knife, cut out 11 small squares from the strip (13). With your fingertips, gently press on the edges to both seal them and give them a shape that vaguely resembles a star (14). Place them on the tip of each tree, skewering them on the wooden stick (15).
Proceed in the same way with the other trees (16). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place your puff pastry trees side by side, leaving enough space so that they do not stick together as they puff up during baking (17). Bake them in a preheated oven at 392°F (static) for 15-20 minutes until they are puffed and golden (18).
Let them cool slightly before removing them from the baking sheet. If you want, you can decorate them with pink peppercorns to simulate ornaments. Serve the Christmas tree puff pastries with salmon as an appetizer or as a snack for an aperitif.
Storage
You can store the puff pastry trees in the fridge for a couple of days.
Tips and Variations
Using the same procedure, you can make puff pastry place card trees with different fillings: instead of salmon, you can use ham, salami, mortadella, speck, turkey slices… The cream cheese can be replaced with olive pâté, Genoese pesto, ham mousse, tomato sauce, mushroom sauce.
