Amy’s Savory Sandwich Cake (Smorgastarta)

Inspired by Panini Happy

It’s a sandwich that looks like a cake … bread makes the “cake layers”, egg and salmon salad make the “fillings” and the “frosting” is a mix of light cream cheese and Greek yogurt (and incidentally, the easiest frosting I’ve ever worked with!) …  The idea of making something savory that looks like something sweet sounded like total fun to me … yeah, I know, I’m a little twisted.

I am not exactly sure how long I’ve been wanting to make one of these savory sandwich cakes, but it seems like it’s been AGES! Somehow I just never had the right occasion to make it. It is apparently all the rage in Sweden and Finland to make these gorgeous savory sandwiches that look like cakes for special occasions and parties (according to my searches on Google, anyhow).

One of the gals on our team at work is a bit of a health freak and it was her birthday last month. I like to do something special for my coworkers. This cake came to mind … it seemed like the absolute perfect thing to make Amy for her birthday. So I did!

Here’s the bread after it came out of the oven. The larger one was the one I used for this “cake” … the smaller one got made into my daughter’s own version of this sandwich cake (PB&J was involved). I used two smaller springform pans.

It takes a bit of work to make … you need to bake the bread and make the sandwich fillings, then “frost” and decorate the “cake”. You could use any sandwich filling you like … I went with salmon salad and egg salad to match the types of things the Scandinavians tend to use in their Smorgastarta.  You can decorate your “cake” with vegies, herbs, eggs, shrimp, or smoked salmon shaped into roses … I went with a simple asparagus border around the cake and some carrot flowers on top, with fresh basil leaves and some chives for “sprinkles”. It was so much fun to make … and I’m so happy to report that Amy loved it. She shared it with us for lunch that day and took the other half home to her hubby.

Amy’s Savory Sandwich Cake (Smorgastarta)

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Yield: 1 large sandwich cake or two small 1x

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Ingredients

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• Bread, baked in a springform pan (I used my White Whole Wheat Bread – recipe here)
• Your favorite sandwich fillings (I used my Delightfully Dilly Egg Salad – recipe here and my Asparagus Salmon Salad – recipe here)
• Cucumbers and/or sweet onions, sliced
• Asparagus spears

For the savory cream cheese “frosting”:

• 8 oz. light cream cheese
• 8 oz. nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic power
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

For decoration:

• Carrot “flowers”
• Fresh basil leaves
• Snipped chives
• Other vegies, edible flowers or herbs as desired

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Instructions

1. Mix up your bread and bake it in a round springform pan (or two). When it is done, let the bread cool, then slice horizontally to make 3 “layers”. Slice off the rounded top and use it for another purpose.
2. Mix up the sandwich fillings and slice the cucumbers (and/or onions) and set aside.
3. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Steam the asparagus spears until crisp tender and brilliant green in color (poke with a knife to test tenderness), then immediately plunge the asparagus into the ice water to stop the cooking.
4. Prepare the carrot flowers by cutting ridges into a carrot, then rounding the edges with a knife and deepen the ridges with a large wooden skewer. Cut into slices to make flowers. (Google “how to make a carrot flower” for a tutorial.)
5. Mix up the “frosting” by blending together the cream cheese, Greek yogurt and seasonings with a mixer on high until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
6. Turn the bread layers upside down and set aside the bottom layer of bread (the one that was on the bottom as it baked). Set one “layer” of bread on the serving platter and spread with the first sandwich filling, top with cucumber and/or onion slices, then add the next layer and spread with the second sandwich filling. Again, top with cucumber and/or onion slices, then set the reserved top layer on, with the cut side down so the flat baked side is on top.
7. Using a butter knife, spread the whole “cake” with the cream cheese mixture and smooth it out, then stick asparagus spears on the sides of the cake, cutting off the bottoms to make the spears just the right height for the cake. Decorate the top of the cake with carrot flowers and basil leaves and sprinkle with chives.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2013, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: depends ...

This recipe was shared at Full Plate Thursday, Tasty Thursday, Foodie Friends Friday, Seafood Frenzy Friday, What to Do Weekends and Mop it Up Monday.