Serves 2 as an appetiser

Three simple, great-quality ingredients can be turned into an attractive appetizer with a little effort spent on the presentation. Have a few presentation rings handy (easily available on Amazon) and you can creatively ‘stack’ your starter into lovely towers. Here, I flavoured cream cheese with lemon zest and used salmon and avocado too - all lovely when served with toast.


¼ cup cream cheese
2 TB sour cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon (zest only)
1 avocado
100g best-quality smoked salmon
sprig of dill, to garnish (optional)
toast, to serve

Combine the cream cheese and sour cream in a little bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then use a microplane to finely grate the zest of the lemon into the mixture. Combine well and set aside.

Use a sharp knife to dice the avocado into smaller pieces and roughly chop the pieces of smoked salmon.

Using two food presentation rings set on a plate, layer the chopped avocado, then salmon, then cream cheese, compressing down to ensure the layers are compact.

NOTE: You can make this ahead of time and keep in the fridge covering the top with cling film.

Just before serving, simply lift off the rings. Garnish the towers with any herb you have available (I used dill) and serve with toast.