If you’ve never encountered a Swedish Sandwich Cake “Smörgåstårta”, prepare to have your mind blown. This Swedish “sandwich cake” is exactly what it sounds like—and so much more. Imagine layers of soft bread stacked high and frosted not with buttercream, but with creamy, savory fillings like shrimp, smoked salmon, eggs, and herbs.
In Sweden, smörgåstårta is the centerpiece of celebrations—birthdays, graduations, midsummer parties, and any gathering worth remembering. It’s served cold, made hours (or even a day) ahead, and sits proudly in the center of the table, demanding attention with its impressive height and beautiful garnishes of cucumber roses, dill sprigs, lemon slices, and perfectly arranged shrimp. You can also make it with pate, ham, fruit or any fillings you prefer to use!
The beauty of smörgåstårta is that it looks incredibly fancy but is surprisingly straightforward to make. Today, I’m sharing my version of this recipe, which is perfect for a dinner party where you want to impress without the stress of last-minute cooking. Make this in the morning, let it sit in the fridge, and you’ll have an unforgettable Scandinavian feast ready when your guests arrive.
Sandwich cake ingredients
Sauce:
- 1/2 red onion or 2-3 spring onions
- 10g fresh dill (remove stems)
- 300ml (1¼ cups) sour cream or crème fraîche
- 250ml (1 cup) mayonnaise
- Salt & black pepper to taste
- Optional: 6 tbsp unsmoked sandwich caviar (roe spread)
Other ingredients:
- 500 g cooked & peeled prawns
- 4-5 eggs
- 12 slices of toast bread, e.g., thick white bread (I normally make a 2×2 square and 3 slices tall OR 4 individual mini cakes)
- 1 sheet of parchment paper
- ½ cucumber (for decoration)
- Thinly sliced cheese (for decoration)
- Fresh dill (for decoration)
- 1 lemon (for decoration)
Instructions:
Instructions:
- Hard-boil the eggs (approximately 8 minutes after the water comes to a boil). Cool down before peeling.
- Finely chop the onion and mix with chopped dill, crème fraîche/sour cream, mayonnaise, salt and pepper (be careful to not add too much salt if adding fish roe as it’s quite salty). Refrigerate the sauce.
- Thaw and peel the prawns. Set aside 10-20 prawns for topping. Chop the rest up in smaller pieces.
- Peel the eggs and slice them thinly (I normally use an egg slicer).
- Put the parchment paper on a tray/in a container to assemble your cake on.
- Cut the crust off the bread slices (try to keep them even in size to stack neatly on top of each other. The cut-off bread can be used to make croutons or dried in the oven for breadcrumbs.)
- Arrange 4 slices of bread in a 2×2 square.
- Spread a layer of sauce and distribute a layer of egg slices on top from 2-3 sliced eggs (keep the rest of the egg for decoration).
- Add another layer of bread (4 slices), sauce and the chopped prawns.
- Add your final layer of bread (4 slices) and add remaining sauce across top and all sides of cake.
- Now it’s time to decorate our cake, so get creative here! Slice the cucumber thinly on the diagonal. Press cucumber slices along sides of the cake, alternate with cheese slices. Distribute the remaining eggs and prawns on top of the cake.
- I normally finish off with a few slices of lemon and some fresh dill (you can hold off and do this just before serving if preparing the cake day before).
- Refrigerate the cake for 5-24 hours (this ensures the bread soaks up the beautiful sauce).
Check out the video below to watch me make this recipe!