A party centrepiece made entirely of sandwiches: layers of soft crustless bread, ham, cheese, and a creamy vegetable filling, frosted like a cake and served cold. No oven needed.
Ingredients
For the sandwich cake: 1 large pack of crustless sandwich bread; 300 g cooked ham; 300 g sliced cheese; 200 g cream cheese; 200 g mayonnaise; 1 small can of sweet corn; 2 grated carrots; 2 tbsp milk; salt and black pepper to taste. To decorate: 150 g cream cheese; 2 tbsp mayonnaise; red pepper strips; olives and fresh parsley to taste.
Method
Mix the cream cheese with the mayonnaise and milk until smooth and spreadable; set part aside for the outside. Chop the ham small and mix with the grated carrot, sweet corn, and a few spoonfuls of the cream. Lay slices of bread on a tray in a rectangle and spread a thin layer of cream over them. Add a layer of the ham filling, cover with more bread, then a layer of cheese slices. Keep alternating bread, cream, filling, and cheese until you reach the height you want, finishing with bread; press gently to compact. Mix the reserved cream cheese with the mayonnaise and frost the whole cake, top and sides. Cover and chill at least 2 hours so the layers set. Decorate with red pepper strips, olives, and parsley, slice, and serve well chilled.
Tips
Crustless bread gives even, delicate layers; do not make the cream too runny or the bread will collapse; shredded chicken or drained tuna work instead of ham; make it a few hours ahead so it slices cleanly.
