Smoked Salmon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting...Martha Stewart

Smoked Salmon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting...Martha Stewart I came across this recipe in a Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes Cookbook.~2003. It was in the Easy Entertaining section....the cake looked so beautiful! Of course, it grabbed my attention not only because it was very pretty, but because it used smoked salmon. I just love smoked salmon, and I knew I wanted to try the recipe. I also wanted to share a recipe, for those of you who are entertaining guests this coming New Year's eve or New Year's day. I know some of you might not like smoked salmon, but I am sure you can substitute the salmon with some chopped ham,turkey,chicken,chopped shrimp, crab or even some tuna (tuna, would that work?...hmmm). I think this recipe can easily be adapted to include ingredients that you have in your house or ingredients that you like. You can definitely be creative...try using some foccacia bread(thinly sliced) and spread some basil pesto, sundried tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, olive tapenade with some prosciutto. Anyway, back to the recipe...I chose to use a German pumpernickel bread for my cake. This type of bread has whole rye grains in the bread(60%)...it is healthier, but can be sort of rough. I would prefer to make it with the softer pumpernickel bread slices(the regular kind) if I would serve it to guests....that is what the original recipe used. I just think it would be much nicer... I didn't make the exact recipe as in the book, but used my own measurements. You can't really go wrong with this recipe....it is very forgiving. Feel free to adjust amounts of the seasonings/ingredients....you might not want to use so much cream cheese. The cake, in the book, was a quite a bit bigger, and so I scaled mine down a bit. Martha Stewart decorated hers with cucumber slices,dill, lemon slices and topped it with some caviar. I tried making a salmon rose:) for my topping... but if you have better ideas, feel free to decorate as you like. I am not much of a cake decorator, but I had fun making this. This definitely will serve quite a few. It is best served in small pieces. Well, I hope you enjoy this....and, Happy New Year!

You will need:

4 slices of pumpernickel bread(4x6 inches or so)

12 oz cream cheese,softened~you could use whipped cream cheese, chive and onion flavored, etc, to make your life easier

1 TBS chopped red onion

2-3 tsp dill, chopped

1 TBS capers

squeeze of lemon juice

pinch of salt

pepper

smoked salmon,sliced

cucumber, thinly sliced

Directions:

Soften cream cheese or use whipped cream cheese. Divide in two or thereabouts. You might not need to use so much cream cheese. Reserve about 6 oz or so for the topping. With the other 6 oz or so of cream cheese, add a squeeze of lemon juice, chopped onion, dill a pinch of salt(I skipped the salt on mine) and pepper.

Mix together.

Spread a bit of cream cheese mixture on one slice of bread....if using the softer pumpernickel bread, trim crusts. Top with sliced salmon.

Add sliced cucumber, trying not to overlap them.

Repeat with the layering.

"Frost" the top and sides with some of the reserved softened cream cheese.

Decorate with the remaining cream cheese. Decorate with extra capers, dill smoked salmon, etc.

Enjoy! Sometimes, I wish it was made out of chocolate:)...