Voileipäkakku / Smörgåstårta / Sandwich cake

A long, long time ago I had promised a friend to make a sandwich cake with her. Yesterday the Easter holidays finally stretched our free time so, that we could finally execute this project of ours.

What the h*** is a sandwich cake, you might think? A sandwich cake (voileipäkakku in Finnish or smörgåstårta in Swedish) is a savory cake, built just like any other cake, made of bread and savory fillings like meat, seafood or/and vegetables. I have thought a sandwich cake as something very Nordic until I traveled to Brazil where I ate a similar thing called ”torta fria” meaning cold tart. It was filled with turkey meat, olives and mayo, and different from the Scandinavian cakes, decorated in a very simple manner or not at all. Its purpose was seemingly more of every day meal, whereas in here these cakes are prepared mostly for special occasions.

Sandwich cake is nowadays kind of ”new retro”, meaning that at least for me they associate strongly in the formal family gatherings of the 80’s, like birthdays or baptism and communion celebrations held at home. They are already kinda out of fashion and I guess people rarely fix sandwich cakes for celebrations these days. But I must confess, I have always been and still am a big fan of them. My favorite ones are filled with smoked salmon, horseradish cream cheese and shrimps in toast skagen style.

This time, however, my friend suggested preparing a vegetarian cake filled with chickpea hummus, roasted eggplant spread, tzatziki and avocado spread. Probably needful to state that we did not like the eggplant filling too much, and would not use it again. But for an eggplant lover it probably works just fine! Big thanks for my partner in crime, Hanna, without whom this cake would never have been made!

Finnish Vegetarian Sandwich Cake

30 slices of toast, edges trimmed (or 1 big loaf of bread, sliced horisontally in 5 parts)

200ml milk, for brushing

For frosting

200g creme fraiche

200g Philadelphia creme cheese

Assorted greens to decorate

Red hummus filling

300ml chickpeas, boiled or canned, mashed with a blender

10 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

3 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

juice of half lemon

salt and black pepper to taste

Avocado filling 

3 ripe avocados, halved and skins & stones removed

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons of creme fraiche

salt and black pepper to taste

Tzatziki filling

250g thick Turkish or Greek yogurt (we used one with 10% fat)

150g Philadelphia cream cheese

half a cucumber, grated and squeezed dry

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

juice of half lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Roasted eggplant filling (adapted from Simplerecipes)

2 eggplants

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

1-2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

juice of half lemon

salt and cayenne pepper to taste

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Prepare the three first fillings by mixing all ingredients together in a paste. A blender is a good help, but you can also use just a fork. Lumps are okay and give nice texture in a ready cake.

Preheat the oven in 200 C. Cut the eggplants lengthwise in half, poke them several times on the peel with a fork, sprinkle both sides with olive oil and roast on a baking sheet, cut side down for about 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before spooning the eggplant flesh out and preparing the last filling.

Choose the base for your cake. We built ours on a chopping board that was covered with baking paper. Worked well. Place six pieces (2x3) of toast on the board so that they form a rectangle, or the first slice of your big bread loaf. Brush well with milk. The cake should be well moisturized.

Spread on your first filling, and place the next round of bread on top. Brush with milk and repeat the procedure similarly until you have used all your fillings and you have a layer of bread on top of your cake. Brush the top layer with milk, wrap the cake in a plastic film and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Prepare the frosting by mixing together the creme fraiche and Philadelphia creme cheese using an electric mixer. Spread the frosting evenly on all sides of your cake using icing smoother, spatula or a knife.

Decorate creatively with your chosen greens