When most people think of deceptive desserts, they probably think of a dessert looking like something else, for example savory food. However, in my opinion, a dessert is way more deceptive if it is a savory food looking like a dessert. That way you can put it in the dessert section of a buffet, and people will think they are getting a beautiful cake for dessert right until the first bite.... So deceptive!

Another good thing about this kind of deceptive desserts is that you can eat them for lunch.

Inspired by the Swedish smörgåstårta, I made this huge cake-like sandwich, tweaking the Swedish idea of vegetables and meat for decoration to accommodate a more dessert-like garnish.

Even when I told my family it was a sandwich as I served it for lunch with a salad, they were like We are getting cake for lunch?! Fun!

What's better than a delicious sandwich? A huge delicious sandwich! And whats better than a huge delicious sandwich? A huge delicious sandwich coated with whipped cream and decorated like a cake!

Step 1: Ingredients

Makes 1 two-tier cake (serves 8-10 persons if served as a main dish with salad) and a loaf of bread

Bread:
6 dl warm water
1 pkg. fresh yeast (50 g) or 2 1/4 tsp. dry yeast
2 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 Tbsp. cane sugar
4 Tbsp. oil
400 g whole wheat flour
about 600 g white flour

Bean Filling:
2 dl roasted peanuts
1 can chili beans (à 410 g)
salt to taste
lemon juice
dash cumin
1/4 tsp. coriander

Mushroom Filling:
1 dl raw cashews
2 dl soymilk or water
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 jar mushrooms (à 200 g drained)
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 onion, minced, or fresh chives

Cucumber Filling:
1 dl raw cashews
2 dl soymilk or water
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
20 cm cucumber, minced

Topping:
2 1/2 dl. vegan whipping cream or heavy cream
1 orange
chopped almonds or walnuts, optional

Step 2: Bread Bottoms (aka. Cake Bottoms)

Dissolve the yeast, salt, sugar, and oil in the warm water. The water should be a little bit above body temperature, which means it should feel slightly warm to your pinky finger.

Add the flour, holding back a bit of the white flour. Stir with a spoon and knead the dough until smooth and pliable, adding more white flour as needed to prevent the dough from being sticky.

Let the dough rise in a bowl covered with a towel until doubled in size, 1/2 to 1 hr.

Meanwhile, prepare the pans. I initially thought I would need two round loaves because I wanted to make a two-tier cake. However, I ended up using only the one from the cake pan (26 cm. in diameter) and eating the one from the ceramic dish as bread. So you are free to pick whichever dish, bread pan, etc. you wish for the extra loaf, as long as you use a 26 cm. cake pan for the loaf needed for the cake.

Punch down the risen dough and divide it into two parts, the one a bit bigger than the other. Flatten the biggest lump so it fits inside the cake pan. Shape the other one so it fits your other dish.

Let the dough rise a second time till doubled in size, about 1/2 hr.

Bake the bread at 180 degrees C in a convection oven for 20-25 min., or until the top is golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped with two fingers.

Remove the bread from the pans using oven mittens, and let them cool on a rack.

Step 3: Bean Filling (aka. Chocolate Cream)

To make the bean filling, grind the peanuts in a food processor till they start turning into butter.

Drain the chili beans, reserving the liquid, and add them to the food processor. Blend until creamy, adding the reserved liquid as needed. The cream should be as thick as possible.

Season with salt, lemon juice, and spices.

Step 4: Mushroom Filling (aka. Hazelnut Cream)

To make the mushroom filling, blend the cashews, soymilk, nutritional yeast, salt, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Add the mushrooms and pulse till finely chopped.

Pour into a saucepan and add the corn starch. Cook while stirring till thickened.

Reserve the onion for assembling the sandwich.

Step 5: Cucumber Filling (aka. Kiwi Cream)

To make the cucumber filling, repeat the process for the mushroom filling, chopping the cucumber by hand and adding it AFTER cooking the cream.

Step 6: Cutting the Bread (aka. Cake)

To cut the cake, start by removing the top crust, slicing away as little as possible. Continue slicing as many slices as possible. I got 5 slices, each a good 1 cm thick, plus the top crust.

Peel of the crust around each slice.

Step 7: Assembling the Sandwich (aka. Cake)

To assemble the cake, place a slice of bread on a cake stand/platter and spread half of the bean filling evenly over the bread, going all the way to the edge.

Repeat with another slice of bread, 2/3 of the mushroom filling, sprinkling with the onion, another slice of bread, all of the cucumber filling, and another slice of bread.

By now, I had only one slice of bread left, and I used a breakfast bowl to cut out one small circle and two half-circles from it (refer to the picture).

Spread half of the remaining bean filling in the center of the sandwich, put the two half-circles on top so they form one complete circle, spread with the remaining mushroom filling, put the other small circle on top, and spread with the remaining bean filling.

I was able to scrape some bread from the top crust I had cut off, so I could top off the cake with a final slice of bread. But if the bean filling is thick enough, you could probably cover it with whipped cream without any bread in between (see next step).

Step 8: Decorating the Sandwich (aka. Cake)

I chose to coat the cake with a vegan whipped cream (alpro brand); however, the Swedish smörgåstårta often uses creme fraiche, which I also believe would be a good -- and less rich -- option.

About 2 1/2 dl. unwhipped cream is enough to cover to cake. Whip the cream and spread it evenly over the cake.

Slice the orange and divide the slices in half, reserving one whole slice for the top. Place the slices around the cake as shown in the picture. Sprinkle some chopped nuts on the top of the cake (optional). Cut a slit in the whole orange slice from the center and out (just like the radius of a circle) and place it standing on the top of the cake like in the picture.