Panini Happy is four years old this week! And since I always bake my kids a cake on their birthday I decided my blog ought to have one too. Of course, it’s a sandwich cake!
Introducing the smörgåstårta! If you haven’t seen one of these before, it’s a Swedish sandwich cake with layers of bread separating creamy fillings. I can’t remember where I first heard of them but I’ve been aching to make one for the longest time. If you run a Google image search you’ll be amazed at the wide range of incredibly creative smörgåstårtas out there. In the end, I decided to make the recipe from Saveur, which is filled with smoked salmon and smoked herring mousse. Read on to see what goes into making one of these party showstoppers!
After browsing dozens of smörgåstårtas online, the Saveur recipe won me over with the bread. I really wanted to make a round cake, but in most cases that involves cobbling together multiple pieces of rectangular-shaped bread and trimming it all into a circle. Baking a cake-shaped loaf of bread sounded like a much better way to go. It’s a light whole wheat bread and comes out of the springform pan in the perfect shape and size for a smörgåstårta.
After I took a deep breath and tentatively divided the bread into three mostly-equal layers (phew!) it was time to bring on the fillings. The recipe called for the bottom layer to be a mousse made with smoked herring, but since I couldn’t find it at the store I went with smoked trout. A layer of sliced cucumber went on top of the mousse, then it was on to the next tier: smoked salmon, a sweet mustard sauce and shredded romaine lettuce. All the while, I’m hoping and praying that I’ll like how this all tastes together because these were definitely some out-of-the-ordinary flavor combinations for me!
The final step is to “frost” the cake with a mixture of cream cheese and sour cream and then decorate. I kept my adornments pretty close to those in the recipe – smoked salmon, shrimp, hard-boiled eggs, radishes and parsley.
I’m proud to say that this cake, which took me the better part of a day to complete, actually tastes great! You gotta like smoked fish, of course (and we do). When you eat the bread and filling layers all together it really is like eating a sandwich. It’s even better once the flavors have a chance to meld together, after a few hours in the refrigerator. I definitely see how this became popular in Sweden for parties.
Thank you guys so much for an amazing 4 years!
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>Want more panini recipes? See my Recipe Index for a list of all recipes on Panini Happy.
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Looks amazing – would love to give this a go in a less fishy combination!
For perfect boiled eggs without the black ring, boil them for 10 minutes and then get them *immediately* into cold water – I tip my pan at an angle and keep them under a running cold tap for a good 30 seconds before sitting them in a bowl of cold water but plunging them into iced water would work too. x
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Tracy Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 6:54 am
Would love to make this without the fish too, any suggestions for substitutes?
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Kathy Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 7:44 am
If you run a google search for smorgastarta you’ll see an incredible variety of interpretations. The traditional Swedish versions will often involve fish but you can apply this approach to any ingredients you like. I saw some nice ones with Italian cured meats.
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That is absolutely amazing, Kathy. Congrats on 4 years, and I look forward to more of your panini creations!
Andrea Meyers´s last blog post ..Spiced Pumpkin Layer Cake with Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese Frosting and Toasted Coconut, and a Where Women Cook: Celebrate! Giveaway
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congratulations! Wow how beautiful. I just pinned it! I’ve never seen a non sweet cake! I love smoked salmon too.
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Nellie Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 2:55 am
Everything looks delicious…I just pinned this too!
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This look absolutely spectacular! Can’t wait to try makeing one of these on the weekend. Thanks for sharing.
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Wow. Just wow. Not only does this look absolutely out of this world, but I’m all over what’s inside!!! What a great job you did putting it together! And happy birthday to your blog!!
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Amazing cake! Looks delicious and I LOVE smoked salmon. One question, did you use dark syrup in the cake as the recipes calls for? Do you have any suggestions for it? I don’t use it in my cooking and would rather not buy it if I don’t have to!
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Kathy Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
I had to do a bit of googling to find out what to do about the dark syrup. I went with dark corn syrup, which I had on hand, and it worked out well. I also read that molasses was a good substitute.
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What an inspiring photo! I am going to make this on Friday for some of my former Japanese cooking students. They will LOVE it as they have
“sushi cakes.” And all this fine-tuned fussing is right up their alley.
Actually I think we will make it together!
Cheers,
Debra
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Kathy Reply:
January 29th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Sushi cakes?? Oh wow! I need to look those up – they sound phenomenal (I love sushi)!
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Happy Birthday to your blog! Looking forward to another year of your delicious posts like this creative cake. I wish I could cut myself a thick slice right now.
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I love this idea in fact I would like to make it just the way you have but my family my not share my enthusiasm. I will make this with the Italian cured meats. Thanks so much
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What a great idea! Thanks for sharing and Happy Birthday!
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Oh yum!! I had one at a friend’s b’day party in grade school and will always remember it. It was oblong shaped and I wondered why she had green peppers on top of her pink icing! The “icing” was cream cheese and the cake was egg salad, tuna salad and chicken salad. I loved it!
Thanks for sharing!
Barb
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Wow! This just looks amazing and I can’t believe it’s taken me FOUR years to find your blog! I have a lot of catching up to do.
I just need an excuse now to plan a summer party … it’s the Queen’s Jubilee year in the UK this June and this would just be perfect.
Thanks so much for sharing and I love your photography.
I’ll look forward to visiting again…
Best wishes Kitty
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does the bread get soggy?
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Kathy Reply:
March 4th, 2012 at 8:47 am
The bread is supposed to absorb the flavors of the fillings. Soggy in a good way.
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This brought back memories. My Mom, use to make this with a horizontal sliced loaf of bread from the bakery. She used like chicken or ham salad filling and frosted it with cream cheese tinted with a color. She usually made this when her church or extension group was meeting at our home and she always made it feel like an occasion. Thanks.
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This is so creative. I am speechless. Looks gorgeous!!
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How big is this cake? Im just asking because the one on Saveur looks smaller…
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Kathy Reply:
March 7th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
I baked the bread in a 9-inch springform pan.
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I’m Swedish and grew up on these cakes. We usually serve them on special occasions as well.. I have never baked the bread for the cake as I’m afraid the bread would be too dense, how did your bread come out? In Sweden we can buy the special white bread that is used in the traditional sandwich cakes, so that makes it easy. There are soo many variations for this cake, my favorite is the Cake with the shrimp and lemon mayo. I have never used cream cheese and sour cream as the mix to put on the outside, but I’m sure that tasted real good with the smoked salmon..I was actually thinking of promoting this cake to some of my clients as I do catering sometimes. Glad you had fun and liked it.
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Wow, this is wonderful, beautiful decorations, very springtime, I love, I’ll do the same thing but with my pancakes” millefeuilles” Sea (album facebook) Thanks for sharing, and congratulations….
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The first time I had this – something like this – was at my cousin’s high school graduation in 1977. My aunt was always the “trendy” aunt even though they lived in what we still call Hooterville. This is so tasty! She didn’t use any fish, but just fabulous all the same! You did such a beautiful job! Congrats on 4 years!
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It is a good thing we are a fan of smoked salmon. So making this for hubby’s birthday this year since he is really more of a savoury person.
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We use to make a version of this for bridal showers. But we had one layer of tuna fish, omelayer of ham salad and one of egg salad. It was really good. Also we would buy a unsliced loaf of white bread.
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Do you think you can cheat with a round french bread and just removed the crust and sliced crosswise? Congrats on your 4th year!
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Kathy Reply:
April 11th, 2012 at 7:48 am
The challenge with using a French bread round is that you most likely won’t have layers that are the same diameter. If you don’t mind a dome-shaped cake, I’m sure it would work. The benefit that baking the bread in the springform pan gives is straight sides so that each bread layer will be the same size.
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I am going to try this but want to know if the bread ever gets soggy?
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MOG Reply:
April 20th, 2012 at 5:50 am
I noticed your reply about the soggy bread..thanks I am going to try this for my mother for mothers day brunch..
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Um, how do you eat this? It seems the bread is too dense to eat with just a fork like a sweet cake, do you use your hands? Or a knife and fork?
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Kathy Reply:
May 14th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Actually, the fillings soften the bread quite a bit. You just slice it and eat it with a fork like a cake!
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