Hard-boiled eggs, sour cream, and onion are traditional accompaniments for caviar. In this longtime staple of community cookbooks, they are turned into a shallow cake and spread with caviar. We used supermarket lumpfish caviar, but if you're feeling flush, use the good stuff, or even Japanese tobiko (flying-fish roe).
Draining the black lumpfish caviar removes excess fish ink, which stains the cream. This is not necessary for higher-quality caviar or tobiko. For a caviar alternative, try Cavi-art from caviart.us.
Recipe information
Total Time
3 1D2 hr
Yield
Makes serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Special Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Put 1/2 cup sour cream in a paper-towel-lined sieve set over a bowl, then let drain, covered with plastic wrap and chilled, 3 hours.
Step 2
Stir together remaining 1/4 cup sour cream, eggs, onion, butter, dill, zest, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon chives until combined well.
Step 3
Invert bottom of springform pan (so that turned-up edge is underneath for easy removal of tart) and close side of pan around bottom. Spread egg mixture evenly in pan with offset spatula, smoothing top. Cover surface with plastic wrap, pressing gently, and chill until firm, at least 3 hours.
Step 4
Spread drained sour cream evenly over egg mixture with offset spatula.
Step 5
Gently spread half of caviar on several sheets of paper towels to absorb excess cuttlefish ink. Carefully lift caviar from paper towels and spread on top of egg mixture (be careful not to smash caviar). Repeat method with remaining caviar. Serve cut into wedges and sprinkled with remaining chives, if desired.
