Pikelets with smoked trout and a horseradish caper crème fraïche
Makes: 12
Serves: 4
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend
Pikelets with smoked trout and a horseradish caper crème fraïche
The word ‘pikelet’ is thought to originate from the Welsh bara pyglyd, meaning ‘pitchy bread’. It became a Yorkshire staple in the Victorian era, finished with either sweet or savoury topping
Makes: 12
Serves: 4
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
397Kcal
Fat
15gr
Saturates
9gr
Carbs
46gr
Sugars
7gr
Fibre
3gr
Protein
18gr
Salt
1.6gr
Emily Jonzen
Emily Jonzen is a London-based food stylist and recipe writer with almost ten years of experience working on books, magazines, packaging, advertising and television projects.
See more of Emily Jonzen’s recipes
Emily Jonzen
Emily Jonzen is a London-based food stylist and recipe writer with almost ten years of experience working on books, magazines, packaging, advertising and television projects.
See more of Emily Jonzen’s recipes
Ingredients
- 200g strong white bread flour
- ½ x 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast (or 1 tsp from a tin)
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 300ml whole milk
- a little butter, to fry
To serve
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- juice of 1 lemon, plus lemon wedges to serve
- 4 tbsp crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp creamed horseradish
- 1 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped dill, plus a few sprigs
- 2 hot-smoked trout fillets, skinned and flaked
Step by step
Get ahead
The pikelets are best eaten straight away, but can be cooled and frozen before being topped. Warm through in a moderate oven, wrapped in foil, to refresh.
- To make the pikelets, sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir through the yeast, sugar and salt. Heat the milk to just lukewarm (be careful not to let it get too hot) and pour into the dry mixture. Whisk together until you have a smooth batter and cover with a clean tea towel. Set aside for 1½ hours, until the mixture has doubled in size and is bubbly on top.
- Once the mixture is ready, heat your oven to low (to keep the pikelets warm). Rinse the diced red onion under cold water in a sieve and transfer to a bowl. Add the lemon juice and set aside, while you continue.
- Combine the crème fraîche, horseradish, capers and dill, seasoning to taste.
- Add a little butter to a large, non-stick frying pan and place over a low heat to melt. Stir the pikelet mixture a couple of times to deflate any larger bubbles, then drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the pan (you should be able to cook 3 or 4 pikelets at a time). Gently spread with the back of a spoon to circles that are roughly 9cm diameter. Cook on a medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, until small bubbles start to burst on the surface of the pikelets, then flip over and cook for 2 minutes more until pale golden on both sides. Wrap in a clean tea towel and keep warm in the oven (turn it off now), while you repeat with the remaining mixture to get 12 pikelets in all (add a little more butter as needed).
- To serve, top the pikelets with the horseradish and caper crème fraîche and finish with some of the trout, the drained red onion and sprigs of dill. Serve on a platter, with lemon wedges.
