Make a Sandwich Birthday Cake!

Discover Creative Holiday Garnishing Fun: Make a Sandwich Birthday Cake and More!

By Bob Wilson, BS, DTR

For all people who love to be creative in the kitchen but want to avoid making traditional gooey, high-calorie cakes for birthdays or weddings, consider this fun and delicious alternative. My kitchen creativity previously expressed itself in making 8000-calorie cheesecakes for all of my friends!

When I lost weight, I knew that I needed to find alternatives that were still fun to make and healthful. I started making birthday cakes for my friends and even one for a friend’s wedding. The wedding cake had 3 cakes with a large bouquet of flowers in the middle.

I love using flowers and colorful vegetables in my creations.

· In the above cake, I used green onions, red pepper circle-slices and red cabbage for my friend JON’s name.

· The flower is made of carrot circles and green onions.

· I put red pepper hearts that were cut out using a small, heart-shaped cookie cutter. I also have used a small teddy bear cookie cutter on other cakes.

· I decorated the sides of the cake using carrot circles and red pepper hearts.

· Colorful chrysanthemum flower tops were used around the base of the cake for accent.

· The icing is really herbed tofu dip (you can use low-fat cottage cheese).

· The cake is really a two-layered sandwich with low-fat tuna salad (It’s green-colored in the above picture because I used green catsup!) on the bottom layer and low-fat Toby’s® Tofu Dip—it tastes similar to egg salad—which could be used instead.

· Options: I have also used my garbanzo spread and black bean spread for the layers and have used pureed cottage cheese for the icing. See: dinner recipes.

Ingredients:

18 slices Orowheat® Best’s Winter Wheat Bread (a chewy bread—6 slices/layer)

2 heads red leaf lettuce

3 6½-ounce cans of water packed tuna

catsup, to taste (I used green!)

spicy mustard, to taste

dried onion flakes (or use fresh), to taste

6 stalks celery, diced

1 ½ pints of Toby’s® Tofu Dip or low fat egg salad

dried dill weed, to taste

garlic powder, to taste

2 12-ounce, extra-firm tofu packages You can also use low-fat cottage cheese.

vegetable garnishes, as desired

1. Prepare “salads” and “icing” first: the low-fat tuna and egg, or garbanzo and black bean—use any “salad” filling that is desired. Refrigerate the salads, for best results and to keep everything safe from bacterial contamination.

2. Get a large 18-inch round platter and line it with red leaf lettuce (washed and patted dry).

3. Arrange the 6 slices of bread—in two rows of three slices—in the middle of the platter on top of the lettuce.

4. Use a spatula to spread the layer of tuna salad evenly on top of the 6 slices of bread.

5. Put 6 more slices of bread on top of the tuna salad—just like you just made 6 sandwiches.

6. Then put on the low-fat Toby’s® Tofu Dip OR low-fat egg salad on top of the bread using a spatula.

7. Next put 6 more slices of bread on top. Now you have 6 double-decker sandwiches, in two rows of three.

8. Now get out the “icing” and using a spatula, cover all of sandwiches, top and sides, to a thickness of ¼ inch—just like you were icing a cake.

9. Prepare the “names” and garnishes out of whatever you want to use—carrot circles, red or yellow peppers (hearts, teddy bears), red cabbage slices; you can use pretzels to make the names. I suggest that you use tweezers or needle-nosed pliers to place the vegetable or pretzel pieces on the cake.

10. Lastly, put whatever type of flowers around the edges of the sandwich cake for a garnish.

11. The cake takes about one hour to assemble after the “salads” have been made.

This cake is a delightful alternative for people with diabetes or for those who want to avoid eating lots of sugar, fat and extra calories. People always LOVE receiving this cake (except children, because they expected REAL icing!).

This cake serves about 15 people, with serving 1/3^rd of a sandwich to each person.

I have two friends who were married and they did not eat sugar, but wanted a wedding cake. So I offered to make them one. A sandwich cake!

Use the same process as described above, but make several cakes. Then I cut the flowers from the yard and made the center arrangement and added the flower garnishes to the cakes.

It was a Spring wedding, and so all of the flowers in the garden were blooming. Take a peek and see how it turned out. It was SO fun and everyone enjoyed it!

I love mixing flowers (some are edible) from the garden, along with cut up fruit. The meal also includes a low-fat mini pizza and coffee.

I lined a platter with red leaf lettuce. I formed the garbanzo spread by using an empty yogurt container. I then emptied it on top of the lettuce. I added a few flowers around the base.

Next I topped the Garbanzo Spread with borage flowers, carrot circles, red pepper hearts, and teddy bears. I made the teddy bears and small hearts using small cookie cutters that I purchased from a kitchen store.

I served the appetizer with Lavache heart-shaped crackers on top of red leaf lettuce.

Gourmet Bouquet Decorative Centerpieces to Eat and Enjoy
By Julia Weinberg Publisher: New Win+publishing (May, 1979) A really FUN book with many ideas. Is available new and used from www.amazon.com I've used this book in the cooking classes that I have taught.