Sandwich cake (smörgåstårta) is a typical Swedish party dish. Elegant and appreciated. Excellent, since it can be made ahead of time. It can be made round, rectangular, square, or any other shapes.

Look at this beautiful butterfly shaped sandwich cake! The picture is from one of my cookbooks. The preparation is rather complicated and the list of ingredients is very long, so I will not include the recipe here. This cake is not cheap to make, because it contains a whole lot of more or less expensive ingredients.

Butterfly Sandwich Cake

My herring sandwich cake is much easier to make. It’s less expensive too. It can be served at buffets and parties, or any other type of event you may plan. We had it simply as a late Friday night dinner in front of the TV. There was leftovers for lunch the next day.

Matjes Herring Sandwich Cake

1 round loaf of rustic dark bread, 22 centimeters (8-9 inches), was used. The bread was cut horizontally into 3 layers. Yield: Makes 10-12 servings.

FILLING:
* 100 ml crème fraiche
* 150 ml mayonnaise
* 4 tablespoons Swedish fish roe spread (Kalle’s Kaviar)
* 4 tablespoons vodka
* 1 lime, zest and juice
* 3-4 tablespoons dill, finely chopped
* freshly ground black pepper
* 2 matjes herring fillets, cut into very small pieces
* 1 red onion, very finely chopped
* 3 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
* 3 boiled, cold potatoes, cut into very small dices

DECORATION:
* soft butter
* 35 grams frozen chives, or 200 ml fresh, finely chopped
* 4 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
* 1 small jar of Arctic Sea Caviar
* sliced radishes
@ < Caviar is roe from capelin, an Arctic Sea fish. This roe has light yellow color, a crispy texture and natural sweetness.
Substitutes: Golden caviar, red or black lump fish roe.

METHOD:
1. Rinse matjes herring under cold water and drain.
2. Cut matjes herring into tiny pieces and chop the red onion and eggs.
3. Cut the potatoes into very small dices.
4. In a bowl, blend mayonnaise with crème fraiche, fish roe spread, dill, vodka, zest of lime and juice.
5. Stir in matjes herring, red onions, eggs and potatoes.
6. Layer bread and filling. End up with a layer of filling on top of the bread too (this is done to make decorating the cake easier later on).
7. Cover with foil and keep it in the refrigerator over night.
8. Spread a thin layer of soft butter around the edges and cover the butter with finely chopped chives.
9. Decorate with eggs, radishes and caviar.