A sandwich cake covered in slices of radishes, presented on a plate in the outdoors.

Traditional sandwich cake

A sandwich cake looks like a dessert, but it is in fact a savoury cake served as lunch or dinner at social events. It often consists of bread, mayonnaise or crème fraiche, and fillings such as seafood, salmon or meat.

Photo credit: Magnus Carlsson/imagebank.sweden.se

Savoury cake ('Smörgåstårta') – recipe

A Savoury cake? Yes, this is precisely what it is, and it’s delicious. The Sandwich cake, or 'Smörgåstårta', is a retro cake, hugely popular in the 70s and now having a revival as a Savoury cake served at parties. It looks like a cake, but instead of cream and sugary decorations, it can be decorated with radishes, dill, salmon, prawns or cucumber, to name a few toppings.

Last updated 18 January 2023

8-10 servings.

Preparation time: About 40 minutes, plus time in the fridge.

Ingredients:

500 g rye bread
100 g of room temperature butter
4 hard boiled eggs
400 g boiled potatoes
400 g of cream cheese
2 dl crème fraîche (40%)
2 gelatin sheets/leaves
250 g smoked mackerel or smoked salmon
½ large yellow onion
½ dl finely chopped chives
½ dl finely chopped dill
Salt and pepper

Topping:

Sliced radishes
Chopped fresh cucumber
Chopped dill and chives

Method:

Mix rye bread and butter in a food processor with knives. Dress a round tin with with removable edges (about 24 cm in diameter) with parchment paper, both the bottom and the sides. To do this, first brush the tin with a little oil so that the paper gets stuck. Divide the bread-mixture over the tin and firmly press it to the tin. Place everything in the refridgerator meanwhile preparing the rest.
Place the gelatine sheets in cold water for about 10 minutes. Chop the potatoes, eggs and onions. Mix with dill, chives, smoked fish crumbled into small pieces, cream cheese and half of the crème fraiche. Heat the rest of the crème fraiche, take the saucepan from the heat and add the soaked gelatin sheets (without the water). Stir it together. Mix thoroughly with the rest of the filling and season with salt and black pepper.
Add the filling to the tin with the bread-”crust” and spread it evenly over the cake. Cover with cling film and allow to stand in refrigerator for about 6-8 hours.
Fold together everything for the topping and put it on top of your Swedish sandwich cake. Enjoy!

Recipe by Lisa Lemke