Smoked trout salad in cucumber cups

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature;

2 tablespoons heavy cream;

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion;

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest;

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice;

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill;

11⁄2 teaspoons prepared horseradish;

1 cup skinned and crumbled hot-smoked trout (about 4 ounces);

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste;

1 long or 2 medium seedless cucumbers, preferably about;

2 inches in diameter;

24 tiny dill sprigs, for garnish.

For the trout salad, stir together the cream cheese, cream, onion, lemon zest, lemon juice, dill, and horseradish in a small bowl. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the trout. Season with salt, if needed, and pepper. Use at once or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
For the cucumber cups, taste a little of the cucumber skin; if it’s tough or bitter, peel it off. Otherwise, leave the cucumbers plain or score them lengthwise with a fork to make a pretty edge. Cut the cucumbers crosswise into 3/4-inchthick slices. You should have about 24 slices in all. Use a small spoon or melon baller to gently scoop out about half of the center of each cucumber slice, just enough to make an indentation to hold the trout salad.
Place about 1 tablespoon of salad in each cucumber cup, pressing it lightly to make it stay on the cucumber. Garnish each with a small sprig of dill and serve soon or refrigerate for up to 6 hours covered with a damp paper towel and wrapped loosely in plastic wrap.
What else works? You can spoon the salad into individual Belgian endive leaves. You can also serve this as a plated salad, using thinly sliced tart apples or thinly sliced chilled roasted beets in place of the sliced cucumber or a combination of the two. Dip the apples in lemon juice or lemon-lime soda to reduce browning.