Raspberry, Mascarpone, & Cucumber Canapes

Bring some brightness to your next brunch or barbecue with this fresh and creamy appetizer! Creamy mascarpone and sweet-tart fresh raspberries come together to top bite-sized cucumber canapes for the perfect summer taste.

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Not all recipes need to be complicated, with long lists of ingredients and pages of instructions with detailed technique. Sometimes, it’s all about combining the right three flavors quickly and easily to make a bite-sized and versatile treat that tastes like summer.

Besides being simple, these cucumber canapes are fresh, fruity, and flexible. Swap out the raspberry with whatever is perfectly in season to highlight the best and sweetest flavors of summer.

What You Need to Get Started

You can easily find all of the ingredients for these raspberry, mascarpone, & cucumber canapes at your grocery store:

• Produce: Cucumbers, Raspberries
• Fridge: Mascarpone, Heavy cream
• Equipment: Vegetable peeler, Stand mixer or hand mixer with whisk attachment

How to Make Cucumber Canapes

It all starts with cucumber as a base. I like to use seedless or English cucumbers for these, since they tend to have a good flavor and small, watery seeds. However, this would definitely work with other varieties.

The skin can be a little bit bitter or thick, so I suggest at least partially peeling it. You can do it in alternating stripes for a fun effect, or peel your cucumbers completely. You could even use mini cookie cutters to make some fun shapes.

Since these will be the base of your canapes, instead of the traditional bread or crackers, you’ll want to cut them into rounds thick enough to hold and to hold up to the toppings. Between a quarter and half inch is good. Thicker slices will give you more cucumber flavor in each bite.

Arrange the cucumber slices on a plate or serving tray, and then mix up the creamy mascarpone topping.

The easiest way to do this is in a stand mixer, but a hand mixer will work as well. Use the whisk attachment, and whip up the mascarpone for about two or three minutes, until it begins to soften and fluff up.

Then, add in the heavy cream and continue mixing until it’s all incorporated. You can add more cream or mascarpone as needed to reach the right consistency. It should be spreadable, but hold its shape, like slightly-softened butter.

You can use a small spatula or butter spreader to dollop some of the filling onto each cucumber. If you want better control over the look, you could also add the mascarpone to a piping bag, and make some pretty swirls on each cucumber.

Next, it’s time to add the raspberries. When selecting raspberries, they should be firm and plump, and a uniform color. If you’re shopping, assure that the berries haven’t been squished too much in travel. If picking from a farm or garden, you’ll want to only pick berries that are fully ripe and jump off the bush.

Place a single raspberry hollow-side down on top of the mascarpone layer of each canape. You could also fill the berries with a little extra cream and place them at an angle for a different look. Feel free to play around with adding multiple berries and the placement.

Finally, drizzle the entire plate with a little bit of honey. This adds that extra little kick of sweetness, and ties the flavors together. If you’re able to get local honey, that will be the best. Otherwise, your standard honey sold in a bear-shaped bottle works perfectly!

If needed, you can prep these in advance. The mascarpone cream can be stored in the fridge for a couple days, and the completed canapes can be stored overnight or for about a day. To make them easier to handle, I suggest adding the honey drizzle just before serving.

How to Serve Cucumber Canapes

These are such a cute little snack or appetizer, and the combination of fruit and veg means they can work in all kinds of entertaining situations. You could even make them a build-your-own-style treat, by only adding the mascarpone and honey drizzle and serving with bowls of different fresh fruits for topping.

Use these cucumber canapes as the first course of a spring or summer brunch. Since they are so simple, you can easily serve them while the main course, like a blueberry french toast casserole or peach and plum crumble, is still baking. If you are serving these with a fruit bake, I suggest using a different fruit for each course.

These also make a pretty addition to an appetizer spread due to the bold colors. Serve them alongside apricot ricotta toast and some vegan carrot ‘bacon’ wrapped water chestnuts. Don’t forget some drinks to make it a happy hour, like the complementary Chambord raspberry margaritas, or rhubarb hibiscus lemonade as a zero-proof option.

Use Up Leftover Ingredients

• Extra cucumbers can find a new home as the garnish and an ingredient for cucumber, lemon, and basil gin cocktails.
• Mascarpone is always a tasty topper or filling, like in honey mascarpone cream puffs or atop a strawberry rhubarb crumble.
• Leftover heavy cream is the perfect excuse to make ice cream! Try this blueberry goat cheese variety for something unique.
• Raspberries make some tasty cocktails, like floating in a dragon fruit rose sangria. Or make them the star in raspberry cheesecake blintzes.

Special Equipment

• Vegetable peeler
• Stand mixer or hand mixer

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