Salmon sandwich cake-smörgåstårta

• Toast. It can be wheat, whole grain, or even a gluten-free soft version. Use big toast slices.
• Milk or fish stock.
• Smoked salmon. Used in the filling.
• Cold smoked salmon. Used as decoration. It can also be plain cured salmon.
• Cream cheese. It can be a flavored one, like with chives.
• Chives or spring onion. It can be replaced with half a red onion cut into small pieces.
• Lemon. Use organic
• Pepper. Black pepper or lemon pepper goes well with the cake. Even white pepper can be used.
• Capers or pickles.
• Extra decorations can include cucumber, pea sprouts, parsley, and roe. Seaweed pearls make lovely decorations also.

Instructions

1. Cut the edges from the toast slices. You can save them and make, for example, croutons on soups or salad from them.
2. Dice the capers very small.

3. Use only the leafy part from the dill. Slice it into small pieces. Chop also the chives. You can also use scissors.
4. Grate some lemon zest in a bowl from the half side of the lemon( the other half is saved as decorations). Cut the lemon in half, use the grated side, and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Tip: A Microplane is an excellent tool for grating.

5. Mix the 400 grams of cream cheese, the chopped herbs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chopped capers.
6. Check your salmon filet for bones.

7. Add the salmon into the cream cheese mix.
8. Put three toast slices on a serving tray and moisten them with milk. A brush is a good tool for this.

9. Spread ⅓ of the salmon paste on top.
10. Do the same for the following two layers. Do not moisten the last top layer of bread.

11. Whip the cream cheese, so it becomes easier to spread. (or stir it vigorously with a spoon) Use a palette knife or regular knife to spread it evenly around the whole cake.
12. Decorate the cake with the cold-smoked salmon; you can spin the slices as roses. Cut the half lemon into wedges or round pieces and add some herbs as decoration. Add some cucumber slices.

Variations

• With egg- 3 hard-boiled eggs, ½ cup mayonnaise, and some leek, make an egg layer to the cake.
• With prawns-200 grams of prawns, leek, ½ cup mayo, and dill, make a layer of prawn filling.

If you want to, you can make the cake with three different fillings; smoked salmon, one with prawns and mayonnaise, and one with boiled eggs and mayo. This combo is also a traditional one.

• Tuna cake. Instead of salmon, you can make a cake from canned tuna and replace the salmon with this fish type. Decorate with shrimps. Boiled eggs go well with tuna cake.
• Vegan salmon cake. This cake is made with carrot lox. Check the recipe here. Make it a vegetarian version using regular cream cheese or a vegan one using vegan cream cheese.

Both the tuna and veggie versions are cheaper since salmon is quite expensive. The carrot lox version can fool anyone and is very "salmony" tasting. It is also great for those with a fish allergy.

How to count portion sizes

I usually count four slices of toast to be enough for three people. These 12 slices of toast as cake serve nine people. If you want to do bigger pieces, count this cake to be enough for six people.

You can make this cake a bit longer by adding four slices of toast. Add the amount of filling somewhat, or spread it a bit more thinly. It is good to layer the toast slices as a brick wall, so the shape holds better.

Sandwich cakes can be made in a square shape to serve even more. Many times sandwich cakes are made to serve 24 people. You can double the recipe amount to make a bigger square cake. About 400-500 grams of cream cheese as frosting is enough for a bigger cake.

It is good to decorate the cake just before serving, so it looks fresh. The salmon filets can start to dry out from the edges if you decorate them hours before serving. To prevent the drying, you can brush some gelatin on the salmon. Also, carrot lox makes a nice decoration.

Choose herbs that don't wither. Some good choices are parsley, pea sprouts, and chives. Lemon and cucumber can be cut into round slices and bent as a standing S-form.

Instead of cream cheese, mascarpone or whipped cream and cream cheese can be used. Mayonnaise can be added to the spread.

One traditional way of decorating sandwich cakes is with grated cheese that is used on the sides on the cream cheese. It was common when I was a kid in the 90s. This decorating is, though, more rarely used nowadays.

Naked cake

If you are not a fan of too much cream cheese, you can leave the sides without frosting. This is called a naked cake when only the top is decorated.

Origin and some History

You can find the first sandwich cake-like recipes in Swedish cookbooks year 1903. In the 40s, there were already several. To Finland, this delicacy found its way in the 50s. It was even served in the Independent party at president castle in 1961.

In Sweden, they even celebrate sandwich cake day, 13 November, the same day Gunnar Sjödahl had his birthday. Gunnar made the sandwich cake very famous with the recipe he developed in 1965.

In Finland, the first sandwich cakes were not multi-layered and frosted. They could be a round loaf, filled and decorated. Veggies were not used in the fillings, just as decorations. In the early days of sandwich cakes pastes, mayo, and whipped cream were used.

In Sweden first cakes were round. They were filled with butter, liver pate, spreadable cheese, boiled eggs, anchovies, or salmon and decorated with veggies, eggs, and cured salmon.