John Whaite serves up three canapés to get your Christmas off to a flying start on Lorraine. He makes road mini spuds with potatoes, cream cheese and chive , stuffed dates with goats cheese and prosciutto and finally crostini canapés with pickled walnuts and pears.

The ingredients for the crostini canapes are: 1 medium baguette, sliced into 1cm thick slices, Olive oil, Salt and pepper, 200g Dolcelatte cheese, 100g salted butter, very soft, 150g canned pear, chopped into small cubes and 75g pickled walnuts, chopped into small cubes.

To prepare them, preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6

Place the baguette pieces on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crisp. Allow to cool.

Beat together the cheese and butter until soft and spreadable, then spread over the pieces of toasted baguette. Mix together the pear and walnuts, then use to top the bread.