Smörgåstårta takes the cake!

What do you think when you read the word Smorgastarta? I imagine that most people wouldn’t really know what to expect.  I first learned about Smorgastarta when they were featured on The Kitchn, a cooking blog I enjoy. I saw photos of a few of them and fell completely in love with the idea- and I knew that my husband, whose B day was on the horizon, would love it even more. I was planning to throw him a surprise party and knew this would be a fantastic addition to the spread.  A Smorgastarta is a sandwich cake!  Popular in Sweden and throughout Scandinavia- called Voileipakakku in Finland.   I don’t know how I never knew about this before! Constructed identically to a layer cake, a Smorgastarta is layers of sandwich filling layered inside pieces of bread.

I seem to encounter a lot of people that really just aren’t that into sweets, making this an ideal substitute. In photos, I often see lots of seafood based fillings and toppings, but because I was serving this at a party where I wasn’t sure about allergies, I thought I would play it safe.
I baked loaves of bread in a spring form pan…..after that epic fail I just went out and bought the bread. I picked up 3 large round flat loaves. I sliced off the bottom crust, leveled the top and then using a spring form pan as a guide, and trimmed a nice circle.
I placed the first circle down and topped it with egg salad.

Egg Salad
8 hard boiled eggs- Peeled and chopped.
1 tablespoon dill (2 if using fresh)
¼ cup mayo
2 Teaspoons mustard
Salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped onion
Mix it all up, adding more mayo or mustard, depending on your taste.

Top that with the second piece of bread, and on top of that curried chicken salad.

Curried Chicken Salad
2 chicken breasts- cooked and chopped.
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup green onions, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
½ cup mayo
1T Curry Powder.
Mix all together and put as the second layer.

Now we get to make frosting. If you have a stand mixer- I would recommend using that for this.

Frosting
8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 small tub of chive flavour Philly whipped
1 cup of sour cream

Mix until everything is nice and creamy (and delicious).
Frost your cake, and then it is time for the toppings.
You can top with things like sliced cucumbers, peppers, hard boiled eggs, shrimp, smoked salmon, bacon. Anything you can imagine to put on a sandwich.  Perhaps peanut butter, banana and bacon for you Elvis fans out there.
I made mine too tall and it was lopsided- I swear, I cannot for the life of me make a decent layer cake. Lucky the deliciousness makes up for any structural deformities. In my opinion this is an awesome replacement for a normal cake. Because, when it comes to celebration you might as well go with what you love. I even had a cousin who served Rice Krispie bars at her wedding in lieu of cake.
I am thinking that I might need to make myself one of these for my birthday as well- it is after all a big one coming up!
Would you try a Smorgastarta?

(Originally Published 2/23/2012 on TBnewswatch.com)