Schmoo torte

shmoo torte, schmoo cake, shmoo cake

Schmoo torte is a Canadian dessert. Although it is relatively popular and well-known nationwide, it is most famous in Western Canada, especially Manitoba. It is a torte with layered whipped cream, brown sugar, and nuts, commonly made using angel food or sponge cake. The schmoo torte was first invented in 1948 by a Winnipeg mother, Dora Zaslavsky, for her son Murray's Bar Mitzvah in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Zaslavsky was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who arrived to Canada in 1914. She started introducing her recipes to Winnipeg via a catering business to support her family financially when her husband became ill. Zaslavsky's catering business eventually expanded across North America. Her schmoo torte became a favourite of singer Harry Belafonte. Murray's daughter Shannon Aceman stated in an interview that her grandmother's schmoo torte "was basically a mix of about three or four of her other best-known recipes for cakes with the rum torte." Jewish food historian Kat Romanow told CTV News Winnipeg that schmoo is reminiscent of a central-European dessert called nusstorte. Romanow told CTV News: "In many cases, the dishes that Ashkenazi Jews brought with them to Canada came to be iconic dishes of their new homes."

Source: Wikipedia