Chicken Liver Cake Appetizer

Chicken liver cake is a savory Eastern European appetizer: thin layers of liver pâté stacked with a garlicky carrot-and-onion spread. Mine is baked in one sheet instead of fried, then cut into bite-sized stacks and served on skewers.

The classic version is called pechenochny tort (“liver cake”), and where I come from it turns up on every holiday table. If you like liver this way, try my country-style pâté, my chicken liver mousse with balsamic onions, or the simple skillet version in my fried chicken liver with onions.

How is this liver cake different?

A traditional liver cake is made like a stack of pancakes. This one is not. Here is what changed and why.

• One sheet, one bake. The blended liver batter goes onto a lined sheet pan in a thin, even layer and bakes in about ten minutes. The classic method cooks the same batter as a dozen separate crepes in a skillet.
• No oil in the layers. Fried liver crepes soak up oil. Baked ones do not.
• Cut, not sliced. The chilled slab gets cut into small squares. Each square is a whole little cake.
• Skewers hold it together. Insert the skewer before you cut. That trick keeps the layers from sliding apart.

Ingredients for chicken liver cake bites

There are only two parts: the baked pâté layer and the carrot spread that goes between. Here is what each ingredient does.

• Chicken liver. The whole point of the recipe. Buy it fresh if you can, and look for livers that are deep reddish brown and glossy, not gray or dull. Frozen works. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and pat it dry.
• Egg. Sets the liver batter so it bakes into a sliceable sheet instead of a puddle. Do not skip it.
• Flour. Thickens the batter and gives the layer enough body to lift off the parchment. For a gluten-free version, swap in white rice flour or cornstarch by weight.
• Milk. Loosens the batter so it spreads thin. Any fat level works. Unsweetened plain non-dairy milk is fine too.
• Salt and black pepper. Liver needs more pepper than you think. Grind it fresh.
• Carrot and onion. Cooked together until soft and lightly golden. They bring the sweetness that balances the liver.
• Mayonnaise. Binds the carrot layer and keeps the stacks moist. To cut calories, swap out half of it for sour cream, blended cottage cheese, or light spreadable cheese such as Laughing Cow. Half is about the limit. Replace more than that, and the filling goes loose, and the stacks slide apart when you cut them.
• Garlic. Raw and pressed, stirred in at the end. Cooking it with the carrots kills the bite you want here.
• Fresh dill or parsley. Chopped fine. Dill is the traditional one.
• Cherry tomatoes, herb leaves and bread cubes. The garnish on the skewer. The bread cube sits at the bottom and acts as the base.

How to make chicken liver cake bites (step by step)

The pâté sheet bakes while you cook the carrots, so the active work is short. The only real waiting is the chill.

1. Trim and blend the livers.
   • Rinse the livers and pat them dry.
   • Cut away any green or yellow spots. That is bile, and it is the single most common reason a liver dish tastes bitter. Trim the stringy connective tissue at the same time.
   • Blend the livers with the egg, flour, milk, salt, and pepper on high until the batter is completely smooth with no flecks left.
   • For the silkiest texture, push the batter through a fine mesh sieve. This catches anything the blender can’t break down.

   

2. Bake the pâté sheet.
   • Line a 10 by 15 inch (25 by 38 cm) jelly roll pan with parchment and pour in the batter.
   • No jelly roll pan? A 9-by-13-inch (23 by 33 cm) pan works too. The layer sits a little thicker there, so add 3 to 5 minutes and go by the thermometer, not the clock.
   • Tilt the pan to spread the batter into an even layer about a quarter inch thick. Even thickness matters more than anything else here, because thin spots overbake while thick spots stay raw.
   • Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 to 14 minutes. The surface should look dry and matte, and the layer should feel set when you press it.
   • Check the center with an instant-read thermometer. It needs to read 165°F (74°C). Chicken liver is not a food you cook by eye, and this is the one number in the recipe you should not guess at.

   

3. Cool it, then cut it into four.
   • Let the sheet cool completely, right in the pan and still on its parchment. Warm pâté tears.
   • Cut the cooled sheet into 4 equal pieces, slicing through the parchment as well. Do not peel anything off yet.
   • Each piece now has its own parchment backing, which lets you move a floppy layer without tearing it.
4. Cook the carrots and onions.
   • Sauté the diced onion in oil over medium heat until golden.
   • Add the grated carrot and cook until soft and just starting to color. Cover the pan if it starts to dry out.
   • Cool it completely. Mayonnaise splits into an oily mess if it hits a warm pan mixture. Spread it on a plate to cool faster.

   

5. Mix the carrot spread.
   • Stir the cooled carrot and onion together with the mayonnaise.
   • Add the pressed garlic, chopped herbs, salt and pepper.
   • Taste it now. This layer carries most of the seasoning, so it should taste slightly too strong on its own.

   

6. Stack and chill.
   • Flip the first piece onto a plate, pâté side down. Peel off the parchment and discard it.
   • Spread a third of the carrot mixture over it, right out to the edges.
   • Flip the next piece on top the same way, peel its parchment, and spread again. Repeat until you have four layers, with filling between them. The top layer stays bare.
   • Trim the edges square so the stacks cut cleanly.
   • Refrigerate at least an hour, and overnight if you can. Cold firms the layers so they cut without smearing, and the garlic mellows throughout.

   

   I shot these photos with a 12 x 12-inch pan, so my sheet came out square. A 10 by 15 jelly roll pan gives you a longer rectangle, so your layers will look narrower than mine. The stacking works exactly the same either way.

7. Skewer, then cut.
   • Push skewers down through the chilled slab in a grid, spaced about an inch apart, as if it were already cut. The skewers pin the layers together.
   • Cut between the skewers into one-inch squares. Press gently on the skewer tops as you cut so nothing shifts.
   • An electric carving knife makes this easy. The moving blades cut straight down through the soft layers instead of dragging them sideways. The edges come out clean and nothing slides. A long thin knife works too, but saw gently and wipe the blade between cuts.
   • Pull one skewer out at a time. Thread on half a cherry tomato cut side up, then a small herb leaf, then push it back down into its stack.
   • Add a bread cube at the bottom of each skewer and stand them on a platter about an inch apart.

Ways to serve chicken liver cake

These stacks are made for a platter. A few ideas that work.

• On a mixed appetizer board next to cucumber tuna bites and spicy roasted pepper and feta canapés.
• With something acidic nearby. Pickles, pickled onions or a sharp mustard cut through the richness.
• On toasted bread instead of skewers. Skip the skewer, set a square on a cracker or a round of toast, and you have a canapé. My pepper and goat cheese crostini uses the same idea.
• As part of a holiday spread with the rest of the cold appetizers, plated last so they stay chilled.

More appetizers and liver recipes to try

If this one worked for you, make these next.

• Country Style Pâté – the baked terrine version, wrapped in bacon and sliced cold. The make-ahead one for a crowd.
• Chicken Liver Mousse with Balsamic Onions – smooth and spreadable, the dressed-up one.
• Fried Chicken Liver with Onions – the plain weeknight skillet version.
• Nalisniki with Meat Filling – crepes stuffed with a liver and meat filling.
• Cucumber Tuna Bites – another cold, make-ahead party bite.
• Spicy Roasted Pepper and Feta Canapés – good next to the liver stacks on the same board.
• Browse the full recipe index for more appetizers.

Print

Skewered Chicken Pate Stacks

5 from 1 vote

Layered of a creamy chicken liver mixture and a vegetable layer. Made for a perfect appetizer.

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian

Keyword: chicken pate

Calories: 48 kcal

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 14 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 34 minutes

Servings: 25 stacks

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken liver rinsed, patted dry
• 1 egg large
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 – 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Carrot Mixture

• 1 medium carrot peeled, finely grated
• 1 medium onion peeled, diced
• 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1-2 cloves garlic pressed/minced
• 3 Tbsp chopped parsley or/and dill
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• Oil for frying

Also:

• Bread cut into 1 inch cubes or squares
• Cherry Tomatoes cut in half
• Basil/Parsley leaves washed & patted dry
• Skewers

Instructions

1. Whirl together on high speed chicken liver, egg, flour, milk, salt & pepper until smooth mixture with no chunks forms.
2. Bake it in a parchment paper lined 12x12 inch baking sheet for 10 minutes at 350F, or until the mixture is no longer runny. Let cool.
3. While the pate is baking, saute onions in couple tablespoons of oil until golden in color, then add carrots and saute a little longer, until the carrots are slightly golden & soft. Cover with lid if needed. Let mixture cool.
4. Combine the carrot mixture with mayonnaise, salt, ground pepper, chopped greens, pressed or minced garlic and mix together.
5. Cut the baked pate in 2 halves. Spread 2/3 of the carrot mixture on one half. Cover with the other half. ((You could sandwich it with all of the carrot mixture and just stop at this point. It would yield smaller stack but a true 1 small bite appetizer, instead of 1.5 bites 🙂 ) Cut this in 2 again. Spread the remaining carrot mixture on one half & cover with the other half. Trim the ends to make a neat square. Refrigerate for about an hour before attempting to cut into squares.

To Assemble the Skewers:

1. Remove the stacked pate from the fridge. Take the skewers and stick them into the pate, as though the pate is already cut into 1 inch squares. This will prevent the squares from sliding as you cut it. Now cut it into 1 inch squares, placing gentle pressure on the top of the skewers as you cut. Electronic carving knife works wonderful.
2. Now remove the skewers out of the pate one by one and thread 1 half of the tomato, cut side up onto the skewer. Then thread a small basil leaf or parsley leaf. Now put it back into the pate. Take 1 bread cube and add it to the bottom of the skewer.
3. Serve on a plate, placing each skewer at least 1 inch apart.

Nutrition Facts

Skewered Chicken Pate Stacks

Amount Per Serving

Calories 48 Calories from Fat 18

% Daily Value*

Fat 2g3%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Cholesterol 70mg23%

Sodium 154mg7%

Potassium 69mg2%

Carbohydrates 2g1%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 2475IU50%

Vitamin C 4.4mg5%

Calcium 10mg1%

Iron 1.8mg10%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Print

I first published this recipe in 2014, and it has been on my holiday table every year since. I updated it in 2026 with a real doneness temperature for the liver, trimming and straining tips for a smoother pâté, full storage and freezing notes, and a new FAQ covering freezing, pregnancy and gluten free swaps.