Smörgåstårta (Swedish Sandwich Cake) is a savory layered sandwich made to resemble a large cake. It consists of several layers of bread and a variety of fillings in between each layer. It is then topped off with a savory cream cheese frosting and decorated with herbs, vegetables, smoked salmon or shrimp. It's a showstopper of a dish and perfect for serving at a large gathering or festive occasion!
Smörgåstårta is a beloved fixture at Swedish celebrations, especially during spring and summer gatherings like birthdays, graduations, and Midsummer feasts. It's a dish meant to impress—both visually and in taste—and is often made ahead of time so the flavors can meld together. With its roots in mid-20th century Swedish home cooking, smörgåstårta showcases the region’s love of sandwiches in an impressive and artful way.
Ingredients
For the Fillings:
These are the ingredients you will need to make a vegetable spread layer, a smoked salmon spread layer and an egg salad layer. But remember, smörgåstårta can be filled with whatever you like! So feel free to play around with the filling ideas. I've got lots of suggestions for you in the Other Filling Ideas section below.
For the Frosting and Sandwich Cake Assembly:
- Note that the frosting recipe calls for white pepper which adds pepper flavor without the dark color of black pepper. This helps our frosting stay white AND be extra tasty!
- The bread used in this recipe is simple white sandwich bread. Feel free to use any type of sandwich bread here in place of the white bread (wheat or rye would both work).
How to Make This Recipe
Make the Frosting and Fillings
- Make the frosting: Combine the cream cheese, sour cream or creme fraiche and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Add white pepper to taste. Cover and store the frosting in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make the vegetable spread: Dice the carrot, onion and red pepper, and slice the cucumber into thin rounds. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except the cucumber slices. Stir to combine. Cover the vegetable spread tightly and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make the salmon spread: Add the creme fraiche, mayo, lemon zest and lemon juice from the smoked salmon spread recipe to the work bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the smoked salmon and dill and pulse briefly to combine. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make the egg salad: Combine the hard-boiled egg yolks, mustard, mayo and creme fraiche in a bowl and whisk to combine. Fold in the chopped egg whites and chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
The frosting and fillings can be made one day ahead and stored covered in the refrigerator.
Assemble the Sandwich Cake
- Remove the crusts from 16 slices of white sandwich bread. Lay 4 pieces together in a square on a serving platter to form the base of your sandwich. Spread a layer of the vegetable spread over the top of the bread slices followed by a layer of sliced cucumber.
- Top the vegetable spread/cucumber layer with 4 more slices of bread. Spread the salmon mixture on top of the second layer of bread. Follow that with 4 additional slices of bread. Top this third layer of bread with the egg salad.
- Top the egg salad with the last 4 pieces of bread. Cover the sandwich cake with plastic wrap and transfer it to the refrigerator to set for about an hour (or up to 1 day).
- Remove the sandwich cake from the refrigerator and frost evenly with the frosting.
- Decorate as desired and return the finished cake the refrigerator to chill for an at least an hour (or up to 12 hours) prior to cutting and serving. Plastic wrap will stick to the frosting so when you chill the cake after it is assembled, frosted and decorated, stick a few toothpicks or skewers into the top of the cake to keep the plastic wrap from touching the surface of the cake. When you are ready to serve, simply remove the toothpicks or skewers and gently move some frosting over to cover the holes.
Expert Tips
- Make sure all of your fillings are thoroughly chilled prior to assembling the cake. It will make the process easier. I prefer to make my fillings the day before I assemble.
- Tuck 4 strips of parchment paper under each side of the base bread layer. These can be gently slid out after you are done frosting and decorating the cake and will keep your serving plate nice and neat!
- Use a small offset spatula for frosting the sandwich cake. This is such a great tool to have in your kitchen. It has so many uses!
- Plastic wrap will stick to the frosting so when you chill the cake after it is assembled, frosted and decorated, stick a few toothpicks or skewers into the top of the cake to keep the plastic wrap from touching the surface of the cake. When you are ready to serve, simply remove the toothpicks or skewers and gently move some frosting over to cover the holes.
- Use a serrated knife to cut and serve the cake for clean slices. To prevent the colors from the different layers from transferring from the knife to your next slice, give the knife a quick wipe with a paper towel in between each slice.
FAQs
Smörgåstårta most likely has its roots in the smörgåsbord, a traditional Swedish buffet-style meal featuring a variety of dishes, both cold and hot, and in the tradition of open faced sandwiches enjoyed throughout Scandinavia. After World War II, smörgåstårta gained popularity as it was seen as an impressive and festive dish perfect for celebrations and gatherings.
Yes! I like to make the fillings a day ahead of time and then assemble the cake the next morning. I then wrap the unfrosted sandwich cake and put it in the fridge for an hour or so. A few hours before I want to serve the cake, I will frost and decorate it. I will then place a few toothpicks or skewers in the top before carefully putting plastic wrap over it (the plastic wrap will stick to the frosting so be careful).
In so many ways! See the section below for other filling ideas.
Other Filling Ideas
As I mentioned above, the three fillings I have mentioned here are just the beginning of the possible combinations for a sandwich cake. Here are some other ideas for fillings to get you started:
- Skagenröra (Swedish Shrimp Salad) is a delicious and very traditional filling often used in smörgåstårta. It is frequently paired with a smoked salmon spread and egg salad like we've used here. If you use shrimp in one of your layers, it's nice to include it in the decoration on top as well!
- Creamy Chickpea Salad makes a great vegetarian/vegan option for a filling! If you swap out the smoked salmon filling in my cake recipe for the chickpea salad, you'll have a vegetarian cake!
- Mashed avocado (or even guacamole) is also a great vegetarian filling. Season it simply with salt and pepper and a generous squeeze of lemon or lime juice to help keep it from turning brown.
- Hummus would also be a wonderful vegetarian option.
- You can do a simple layer of cold cuts such as ham, turkey or roast beef with a few slices of cheese.
- Any other type of creamy salad would be a perfect addition. I personally love this Creamy Tarragon Chicken Salad recipe in smörgåstårta. Ham salad would also be amazing!
- For a bright and colorful alternative, consider this Swedish Beet Salad!
It's also important to note that you could do all your layers with the same filling or simply have two that are the same and one that is different. Feel free to get creative!
Related Recipes
Looking for more Scandinavian-inspired recipes that are great for make ahead entertaining a crowd? Give these a try:
If you tried this Smörgåstårta (Swedish Sandwich Cake) recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Recipe
Smörgåstårta (Swedish Sandwich Cake)
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Frosting:
- 8 ounces whipped cream cheese
- 1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- White pepper to taste
For the Vegetable Spread Filling:
- 4 ounces whipped cream cheese
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
- ¼ cup diced carrot
- 2 tablespoons diced red onion
- ½ cucumber sliced thin
For the Smoked Salmon Spread Filling:
- ¼ cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 8 ounces smoked salmon chopped
For the Egg Salad Filling:
- 6 large hard boiled eggs
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or creme fraiche
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
To Assemble the Sandwich Cake:
- 16 slices white sandwich bread crusts removed (about 1 large loaf)
- Vegetables such as sliced cucumbers, carrots, radishes, etc, herbs, smoked salmon and/or cooked shrimp for decorating
Instructions
- Make the Frosting: Combine all of the ingredients except white pepper in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Season to taste with white pepper. Cover and chill until you are ready to use.
- Make the Vegetable Spread Filling: Combine the cream cheese, garlic powder, red bell pepper, red onion and carrot in medium bowl. Stir until combined. Cover the bowl tightly and transfer to the refrigerator until you are ready to use. Cover and chill the sliced cucumbers separately.
- Make the Smoked Salmon Spread Filling: Combine the sour cream or creme fraiche, mayonnaise, lemon zest and lemon juice in the work bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the smoked salmon and dill. Pulse briefly to combine. Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill.
- Make the Egg Salad Filling: Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, dijon mustard and chives in a medium bowl. Peel the eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Transfer the yolks to the bowl. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Chop the egg whites into a medium dice. Fold into the mayonnaise mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill. (All fillings can be made a day ahead of time).
- To assemble the Sandwich Cake: Lay 4 pieces of bread on a serving platter in a 2 x 2 square. Spread the Vegetable Spread Filling over the top of the bread. Top with cucumber slices and 4 more slices of bread.
- Spread the Smoked Salmon Filling over the second layer of bread. Top with 4 additional slices of bread.
- Spread the Egg Salad Filling over the third layer of bread. Top with 4 more slices of bread.
- Cover and chill for at least one hour to allow the cake to firm up.
- Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Spread the frosting evenly over the cake. Decorate the cake with vegetables, herbs, smoked salmon and/or cooked shrimp (or any other edible decor you like). Carefully cover. Use toothpicks or skewers to keep the plastic wrap from touching the frosting. It will stick). Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least an hour and up to 12 hours.
Notes
- Make sure all of your fillings are thoroughly chilled prior to assembling the cake. It will make the process easier. I prefer to make my fillings the day before I assemble.
- Tuck 4 strips of parchment paper under each side of the base bread layer. These can be gently slid out after you are done frosting and decorating the cake and will keep your serving plate nice and neat!
- Use a small offset spatula for frosting the sandwich cake. This is such a great tool to have in your kitchen. It has so many uses!
- Plastic wrap will stick to the frosting so when you chill the cake after it is assembled, frosted and decorated, stick a few toothpicks or skewers into the top of the cake to keep the plastic wrap from touching the surface of the cake. When you are ready to serve, simply remove the toothpicks or skewers and gently move some frosting over to cover the holes.
- Use a serrated knife to cut and serve the cake for clean slices. To prevent the colors from the different layers from transferring from the knife to your next slice, give the knife a quick wipe with a paper towel in between each slice.
Ann says
Very good for a first timer. I’ve always wanted to try this, after learning about it. My frosting was too thin and would recommend adding the sour cream last, while watching the consistency.
Ruth-Marie says
Your “frosting” recipe for the smörgåstårta is easier than the traditional one that I have used, so I will be trying your next time.
And the idea of using individual slices of bread as you have arranged them is also a new idea which I plan to try. Easier than trying to find uncut white bread at the bakery.
Tack så mycket!
Kristi says
Please report back and let me know what you think!
Kristi
Kristi Bissell says
So impressive! People love it when I serve this.