The schmoo torte was first invented in 1948 by a Winnipeg mother, Dora Zaslavsky, for her son Murray's Bar Mitzvah in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[3][5] Zaslavsky was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who arrived to Canada in 1914.[5] She started introducing her recipes to Winnipeg via a catering business to support her family financially when her husband became ill.[5] Zaslavsky's catering business eventually expanded across North America.[5] Her schmoo torte became a favourite of singer Harry Belafonte.[5]
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."[5] Jewish food historian Kat Romanow told CTV News Winnipeg that schmoo is reminiscent of a central-European dessert called nusstorte.[5] 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."[5]
