Monday, December 17, 2012

Smörgåstårta aka Smorgastarta (swedish sandwich cake)

It was our monthly Tapas night on Saturday and we did a fun Grinch Christmas, also known as Dirty Santa gift exchange.   I just love seeing what people come up with for these, and also to see what the most popular gifts are.    For some reason, wine is very popular here.

I wanted to do something simple, fun and different for Tapas night and I think I succeeded.   And I want to say bookmarks are the bomb, or does that date me.  Hmmmm...  At any rate, a long time ago I bookmarked a site and was scrolling through my bookmarks the other day trying to get inspired, when I ran across this site, Smörgåstårta and I had it, something fun, different and I had most of the ingredients in my cupboard/pantry and freezer.    So, I put it together.   In one sense it was very easy to make, but in another sense, it was kinda hard.  But then again, I have trouble cutting layers, just kidding.   But WOW, what fun to unveil it.
Smörgåstårta aka Smorgastarta (swedish sandwich cake)

To start with I used two frozen bread loaves and put them into a bundt pan.   I let them rise and then baked it for about 40 minutes.   Now, it did do a muffin top a little (kinda like my Boston Cream Pie), but you cut the crust off anyway so, it wasn't a catastrophe.

I let the bread cool, and while it was cooling made up an egg salad spread as well as the Smoked Salmon spread I make.  I just doubled the amount of salmon for this recipe.   I thought it would lend itself to this and it did.   For the egg salad, I hard cooked 9 eggs, mashed them with a fork, then added some mayonnaise, yellow mustard, sour cream and about 1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce.   (and you do need to peel the eggs too).   Just make up your favorite egg salad if you have one.

As soon as the bread was cool, I started slicing layers in it.   Actually I sliced off about 1/2 inch off of the bottom, then spread about a third of the egg salad on it.




Went back and sliced another layer, and spread that with the Smoked Salmon Spread.  Repeated the process with another layer of egg salad, then another layer of Smoked Salmon, and finished it off with the remainder of the egg salad.




I then wrapped it up in a piece of plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for a couple of hours, to let the flavours mingle.















While it was in the fridge, I dived into the freezer and pulled out some frozen shrimp, poached it in my special poaching liquid, (yeah right, it's whatever I think to put into the water, some rosemary this time, cayenne, black pepper, lemon juice, salt and some parsley) let the shrimp cook, til they were done, pulled them out of the water and since I was limited on ice, spread them out on a cookie sheet to cool down.  Peeled the shrimp and put them in the fridge for later on.




I had fun decorating this 'cake'.   Basically, you spread it with a mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise.  Yup, sour cream and mayonnaise.   I used half of a pint of sour cream and a cup of mayonnaise.   I think you could probably also amp up the flavour here, but I choose to go with the simple approach.
Smörgåstårta aka Smorgastarta (swedish sandwich cake)

  And just slather the 'frosting on there.   You don't really have to be especially neat, or fancy, cause you'll be decorating it with the shrimp and some hard cooked eggs and cucumber later on.      Use your imagination,  and HAVE FUN!!!  I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who are more talented at decorating than me, but I don't really care, I had fun.

I sliced up a cucumber, then cut some of the slices in half.

 Then I went to town...
Smörgåstårta aka Smorgastarta (swedish sandwich cake)

Smörgåstårta aka Smorgastarta (swedish sandwich cake)


As you can see from the pictures...


And finished it off with some fresh parsley from almost (semi-recovered) plant. 


Smörgåstårta aka Smorgastarta (swedish sandwich cake)
  
And if I was a really good food blogger, I would have grabbed the camera to show you pictures of it as it was being cut, but hey, I was at a party and having fun, so you'll just have to make your own and take pictures.   You could send them to me, if you like.   Seriously, I live in the real world, I like to share my adventures (and misadventures) in the kitchen, and I don't always think about how something is going to 'look' or to take the 'right kind of pictures', I have fun with food.  So there...

Oh, and this was not only fun to make, show off, it also tasted totally awesome.    If you want to google Smorgastarta, (Smörgåstårta) you'll find all kinds of ideas.
Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

4 comments:

  1. that looks great!!!..i used to make (and eat) these heaps when i lived in Sweden..give me one of these cakes over sweet one anyday :)

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  2. I had so much fun making this and serving it. My niece gave me some more ideas on making more of them in the future, of course she's Swedish so...

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  3. Fab! It's on my shortlist for a feature. Cheers from carole's Chatter

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    1. I'd forgotten how much fun this was to make, I think I need to make another one, soon. Let me know if you feature it, I'd love to read about it.

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