Smorgastarta Sandwich Cake

This delicious Swedish Smörgåstårta Sandwich Cake makes a wonderful appetizer for your next party! This recipe is so easy to make as it uses a loaf of bread and tasty fillings.

What is Smorgastarta?

Smörgåstårta is a Swedish savory cake or appetizer, where bread and savory creamy fillings are layered in several layers, garnished, sliced, and served.

The most common fillings include hard-boiled eggs, cream cheese, smoked salmon, deli-sliced meats, olives, sliced vegetables, and fresh herbs.

This delicious appetizer is also popular in other countries such as Finland, Estonia, and Iceland. Often served at family gatherings, parties, weddings, holidays (especially Midsommar), picnics, and even funerals. It’s a celebratory cake, I think of it just like how Russians serve Herring Under a Fur Coat Salad on every occasion!

The Ingredients

To make this sandwich cake, you will need the following ingredients:

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Bread: The most popular choice is rye bread so I use that or a loaf of wholemeal bread, but you can use any bread that you like as long as it’s sturdy. Do not go for white toast! As you can see in my images, the bread loaf that I used is made with walnuts which added an interesting texture to the appetizer.
• For the Frosting: You will need a block of softened cream cheese, and to flavor it we are using garlic powder, a little salt, and ground black pepper.
• For the Filling: I went for thin smoked salmon, cucumber, radishes, hard-boiled egg, carrots, peas and I garnished with fresh parsley. Other options include adding salami or ham slices, or cooked shredded chicken (I like to use rotisserie chicken!), shredded cheddar cheese, sliced tomatoes, pickles, and olives.

Decorating Smorgastarta Sandwich Cake

This savory cake is often decorated with fresh ingredients for a beautiful presentation! I like using the same ingredients that go in the filling of the cake, to decorate the top of the cake. I think it’s a great way to show the guests what to expect from this dish.

A simple way to decorate is to create salmon roses by using thinly sliced salmon strips and rolling them into rose shapes. You can also make salami roses, I show you this technique in my Wreath Charcuterie Board. Another great idea is to make tomato roses! Here’s an excellent tutorial on how to make roses using tomatoes, avocado, and smoked salmon!

Other ingredients can include capers, caviar, cooked shrimp, grapes, lemon or orange slices, lemon zest, thinly sliced cucumber (use a potato peeler!), edible flowers, and any fresh herbs.

Recipe Tips

• Bread Shape: I went for a round loaf that I sliced in half, stuffed and covered in the cream cheese frosting. However, any shape of bread can work here. If all you have is sliced bread, you can use that and create a rectangular cake instead, and create as many layers as you’d like.
• Chill the Sandwich: I recommend that you let the sandwich cake chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow it to set, and hold its shape, and it will be easier to slice and serve too. The sandwich cake is typically served cold and sliced like a dessert cake.
• Other Frosting Options include egg-based mayonnaise mixed with cream cheese or mayonnaise mixed with plain yogurt.
• Storing: If you have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge covered for 1 day. Any longer than that, and the sandwich will become soggy.

Serve With

Simple Tossed Green Salad

Easy Tomato Soup

Strawberry Lemonade

Red Potato Salad

Enjoy getting creative in the kitchen, and making and decorating a gorgeous sandwich cake! If you try this recipe, please share your experience in the comments section below. I love hearing from you!

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe

4.84 from 6 votes

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Smorgastarta Sandwich Cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Chill time: 2 hours hrs

Total Time: 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Author: Diana

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This delicious Swedish Smörgåstårta Sandwich Cake makes a wonderful appetizer for your next party! This recipe is so easy to make as it uses a loaf of bread and tasty fillings.

8 servings

This delicious Swedish Smörgåstårta Sandwich Cake makes a wonderful appetizer for your next party! This recipe is so easy to make as it uses a loaf of bread and tasty fillings.

Equipment

• Serrated Knife to slice the bread
• Mixing Bowl
• Butter knife

Ingredients 

1/2x1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 loaf of bread preferably rye bread or whole meal

For cream cheese frosting:

• ▢ 8 ounce (225) block cream cheese softened
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the filling:

• ▢ 4 ounces (125g) smoked salmon
• ▢ ¼ cucumber
• ▢ 1 hard boiled egg
• ▢ 3 small radishes
• ▢ 6 baby carrots
• ▢ ¼ cup peas preferably fresh, but canned or frozen would also work
• ▢ Parsley for garnish

Instructions 

• Cut the edges of the loaf to make it as round as possible, then slice it in the middle to make 2 layers (or 3 if you like).
• To make the frosting, beat all of the frosting ingredients together using a hand mixer or stir with a spatula. If the frosting is too thick, thin it out with sour cream or milk.
• Thinly slice smoked salmon, cucumber, egg, radishes and carrots.
• To assemble the sandwich cake, lightly spread the cream cheese frosting on the first layer of bread.
• Then add smoked salmon, followed by cucumber, sliced egg, radishes, carrots and peas.
• Cover with the second layer, and spread a layer of cream cheese frosting on top.
• Frost/cover the whole sandwich cake the same way you frost a dessert cake by covering the sides of the cake.
• Finally, decorate cake with salmon roses, and the rest of the ingredients.

Notes:

• Bread Shape: I went for a round loaf that I sliced in half, stuffed and covered in the cream cheese frosting. However, any shape of bread can work here. If all you have is sliced bread, you can use that and create a rectangular cake instead, and create as many layers as you’d like.
• Chill the Sandwich: I recommend that you let the sandwich cake chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow it to set, and hold its shape, and it will be easier to slice and serve too. The sandwich cake is typically served cold and sliced like a dessert cake.
• Other Frosting Options include egg-based mayonnaise mixed with cream cheese or mayonnaise mixed with plain yogurt.
• Storing: If you have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge covered for 1 day. Any longer than that, and the sandwich will become soggy.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 270kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 55mg, Sodium: 661mg, Potassium: 177mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 1502IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 64mg, Iron: 2mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

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