Smörgåstårta: The Swedish Sandwich Cake
Sweden's savory layer cake: bread, salmon and shrimp under a cream-cheese coat. Find out why an overnight rest is the real secret.
60 min
Medium
Sueca
8 servings
The story behind
Forget dessert: in Sweden this cake is the savory heart of a celebration, served at birthdays, graduations and weddings, especially through the long light summers. The smörgåstårta emerged in the mid-twentieth century and became a Scandinavian table staple, swapping sponge for sliced bread and frosting for fillings of smoked salmon, shrimp and egg. The method is to build it exactly like a layer cake: crustless bread stacked with creamy fillings between each tier, the whole thing coated in whipped cream cheese like icing and crowned with shrimp, dill, cucumber and lemon. The step people skip is the rest: it needs several hours chilled, ideally overnight, so the bread drinks in moisture from the fillings and the slices hold their shape instead of crumbling apart. That cream cheese shell does more than look pretty; it seals the surface and keeps the bread from drying out in the fridge. Cold, generous and showy, it is cut into wedges and shared around the table.
Instructions
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1Prepare the filling by mixing the salmon with some of the mayo, sour cream, and plenty of fresh dill.
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2Lay a base of bread slices on a rectangular plate and spread a generous layer of filling over them.
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3Repeat the layers of bread and filling until finished, pressing down slightly so it stays firm.
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4Whisk the cream cheese with the remaining mayo until smooth and frost the entire cake like a regular dessert.
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5Now for the fun part: decorate with eggs, tomatoes, cucumber ribbons, and caviar following the design in the photo.
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6Let it rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours so the flavors meld and the bread softens perfectly.
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7Serve chilled and get ready for everyone to be impressed.
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