Cream cheese is the one ingredient that holds a whole platter of canapés together - and it is most often used wrongly. Not because the recipe is difficult, but because it comes out of the fridge and gets spread immediately. That is where everything falls apart.

Ten to fifteen minutes out of the fridge

Cold cream cheese tears the bread base instead of spreading across it. Leave it on the counter for ten to fifteen minutes and the texture changes completely - spreading becomes one stroke rather than a fight with a knife and crumbs.

The second rule is the base. Toasted bread, crackers or hard biscuits hold; fresh soft bread goes soggy within minutes and the canapé folds in the guest's hand. If you are making them an hour ahead, the base has to be firm - or mix the cream cheese in advance and leave the assembly for the last minutes.

Why this ingredient tolerates every combination

Cream cheese has a mild taste, which means it does not fight with anything. It goes with sweet - fruit, honey, walnuts - and it goes with savoury: vegetables, smoked fish, cured meat, herbs. It is that rare ingredient which does not demand the whole plate adapt to it.

Of the ten suggestions, the fastest is toast with mackerel, cream cheese and fish roe - five minutes. The classic is round pumpernickel with smoked salmon. Cucumber rolls are ready in ten minutes and are the only canapé on the table with neither bread nor oil.

Then come the ones that ask for a bit more: toast with pear, almonds and a little honey; cherry tomatoes stuffed with cream cheese, anchovies and spring onion; grilled courgette rolls with cream cheese and prosciutto; roasted aubergine with cream cheese and fresh tomato. The most involved are ham rolls with sun-dried tomatoes and crisp crumbs, and red tuna rolls with avocado, served with soy sauce.

The small thing that makes the difference

Fresh herbs - dill, spring onion, parsley. Not for the look, but because cream cheese is smooth and without contrast, and a herb or a nut gives the tooth something to catch on. The same logic applies to honey over something savoury: the contrast is what makes a guest take a second piece.

None of these recipes needs a mixer, an oven for more than thirty minutes, or an ingredient you have to hunt for in specialist shops. All of it is in any grocery store - which means the excuse "there was no time" no longer holds.