Panini Happy – my blog all about sandwiches and other creative recipes for the panini press – is four years old this week! And since I always bake my kids a cake on their birthday I decided my blog ought to have one too. Of course, it’s a sandwich cake!
Introducing the smörgåstårta! If you haven’t seen one of these before, it’s a Swedish sandwich cake with layers of bread separating creamy fillings. I can’t remember where I first heard of them but I’ve been aching to make one for the longest time. If you run a Google image search you’ll be amazed at the wide range of incredibly creative smörgåstårtas out there. In the end, I decided to make the recipe from Saveur, which is filled with smoked salmon and smoked herring mousse. Read on to see what goes into making one of these party showstoppers!
After browsing dozens of smörgåstårtas online, the Saveur recipe won me over with the bread. I really wanted to make a round cake, but in most cases that involves cobbling together multiple pieces of rectangular-shaped bread and trimming it all into a circle. Baking a cake-shaped loaf of bread sounded like a much better way to go. It’s a light whole wheat bread and comes out of the springform pan in the perfect shape and size for a smörgåstårta.
After I took a deep breath and tentatively divided the bread into three mostly-equal layers (phew!) it was time to bring on the fillings. The recipe called for the bottom layer to be a mousse made with smoked herring, but since I couldn’t find it at the store I went with smoked trout. A layer of sliced cucumber went on top of the mousse, then it was on to the next tier: smoked salmon, a sweet mustard sauce and shredded romaine lettuce. All the while, I’m hoping and praying that I’ll like how this all tastes together because these were definitely some out-of-the-ordinary flavor combinations for me!
The final step is to “frost” the cake with a mixture of cream cheese and sour cream and then decorate. I kept my adornments pretty close to those in the recipe – smoked salmon, shrimp, hard-boiled eggs, radishes and parsley.
I’m proud to say that this cake, which took me the better part of a day to complete, actually tastes great! You gotta like smoked fish, of course (and we do). When you eat the bread and filling layers all together it really is like eating a sandwich. It’s even better once the flavors have a chance to meld together, after a few hours in the refrigerator. I definitely see how this became popular in Sweden for parties.
Thank you guys so much for an amazing 4 years!
Get the smörgåstårta recipe at Saveur.
Panini Happy, online since 2008, is more than just a sandwich blog. Here, you'll find hundreds of my original 
Happy Anniversary! This “cake” is beautifully stunning. I can believe that it took you most of a day to make, but so worth it. Gorgeous!
Wow, I have never seen a Smorgastarta – quite incredible! Happy 4th Anniversary!!
wow! Happy anniversary!
Oh. My. God. Look at that thing…incredible.
What a fantastic and creative way to celebrate an exciting milestone! Congrats =).
This is the perfect way to celebrate such a wonderful milestone! You provide so much inspiration on your site, Kathy and this smorgastarta is another example.
This cake makes me incredibly giggly! Happy 4 years!
I don’t think you can even say the word “smorgastarta” without smiling. 🙂 Thank you!
Wow, wonderful! That is something I have been dreaming of making lately…
Happy 4th anniversary!
Cheers,
Rosa
Happy blog anniversary! Or blog birthday! Whichever you prefer 🙂 That sandwich cake looks awesome – I love the sandwich decorations on top! Congrats on 4 years, Kathy!
Happy Birthday! We have the same blogiversary. My 4th year is at the end of this month. I would be glad to help you eat this cake, it looks beautiful as well as delicious! I have enjoyed following you all these years. Looking forward to many more!!
Robin Sue
4 years and still going strong!! Congratulations!! And the cake is amazing! How creative! Looks like a great idea for an afternoon tea or shower 🙂
what a great way to celebrate you blogaversary! LOVE you Smorgastarta 🙂 Happy 4 years to you!!!!
Happy four years to you! And I wish I could have a slice of this.
Oh…My…Goodness.. This is one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in all my 78 years!! This is the first day that I have heard about this site also. How have I not met you before now and you’ve been
here 4 years! Well, congratulations, Panini Lady. I will be visiting this
site often now that I have found you!! Lucky me..no Blessed me, for
finding you and may you continue to receive HIS favor. Right now I am so happy and giddy.
much love,
Viola Ford
Brilliant idea- love everything about it! Congrats on 4 years!
This is the most genius thing, ever! What a great idea for your blog birthday. Congrats!!! So glad to know you!
I literally raised my hand and said, “no, stop it, you did not make a savory sandwich cake” when I saw the picture. This is the raddest ‘cake,’ EVER! Happy Blog birthday, you sure did a great job honoring your blog with this smörgåstårta.
THAT is stunning! I’ve never seen anything like this! Just gorgeous! And Happy Blog Birthday to you!!!! What a festive way to celebrate!
Happy Anniversary – this “cake” is stunning!!!
Happy Anniversary! The “cake” looks delicious!
This is so brilliant, and it looks spectacular! I wish I had thought of it! Happy Blogiversary!! I’m going on 4 myself!
Happy, happy four years! I’ve finally bought a panini press, thanks to the wonderful recipes you feature on this blog, so I’m looking forward to more creations in year five. And your cake? Fantastic!
What a gorgeous cake! Your blog is what finally convinced me to get a panini grill over a year ago. I’ve been happily reading it and making panini ever since. Thanks for all the inspiring recipes! Happy Anniversary!
That’s so nice to hear, Mo – thanks so much!
Congrats on 4 years! Here’s to another 4 and counting!
Congrats on four years! What a fabulous way to celebrate!
what a gorgeous sandwich!!! and super, major happy blog anniversary! I’m on 4 years this month, too! Woo hoo! Big hugs.
Happy Anniversary! I came across this recipe on Pinterest. I will re-pin! Such a novel (to me!) and clever idea! I will definitely subscribe to your blog 🙂
What a pretty sandwich and Im sure it does taste great.. Thanks for introducing this, ill try this over the weekend now 🙂
How cool to see someone else making one of these! I’ve been making sandwich cakes for years (my family is from Sweden), but never followed a recipe. Yours sounds delicious and you did a fantastic job decorating it!! : )
evie
Thanks so much, Evie. I’m glad to know it meets the approval of someone who knows these things well! 🙂
Wow! That looks so pretty it’s almost a shame to eat it. But it looks too delicious not to eat either. The
This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! I am now going to devote my fantasies to developing a Gluten & Casein Free Version of this, first I have to develop a gluten free bread that isn’t terrible, but I’m still working on it… 🙂
This looks like such an interesting cake. I just want to eat it.
That’s really an incredible piece of sandwich. Way to go Kathy!
That is awesome! Congrats Kathy!!
THAT is so gorgeous. It’s truly a work of art! I bet is was super yummy too. Very impressive and thanks for posting.
It’s stunning! And it’s making me hungry . . .
This looks so pretty, I had to come over from Pinterest to check it out closer. I had to google the name because I have never heard of these, wow! How have I never heard of these, google is full of them too. =) Happy blogoversary!
I’ve had the pleasure of being served smörgåstårta at relatives homes in Sweden. They are generally beautiful, but yours is a real work of art.
OMG I’ve never heard of such a cake but since I don’t have a sweet tooth, I guess this is the only kind of cake I’d actually enjoy! I LOVE Smoked Fish especially with cream cheese. YUM YUM! Congrats on 4 yummy years!
What a beautiful sandwich cake! More beautiful than any birthday cake, great idea!
This is beyond coolness!
This looks incredible. I’ve never even thought about a sandwich cake. That’s like one of the coolest things ever!!!
This is one of the most jaw-droppingly wonderful cakes I’ve ever seen. Love the savory twist to it. And yes, too appropriate that it’s a sandwich cake to celebrate a sandwich blog anniversary. Congrats to you!
4 years? Wow! Congrats! You are one awesome blogger. It has been a true pleasure getting to know you better and I look forward to seeing what you bring to the table in the upcoming year.
Your a goddess and such creativity. Happy 4th, glad I found you, you have helped me create killer paninis from my mobile kitchen.
Roxy
This looks amazing! What a creative idea that would be so perfect for a party. Thanks for sharing and Happy Birthday!
Happy Blog birthday! Wow, this is amazing!
Being pregnant, I CRAVE but am not supposed to eat smoked or raw fishies and looking at this amazing sammy cake has me positively salivating! This is definitely making my post-pregnancy foods to indulge in top ten list. I am a true sandwich fanatic, so seeing such an innovative, creative and positively delicious twist on an already near perfect classic tickles me just right. Awesome post!
that looks amazing! I have never heard of such a cake but it looks like it would be great to entertain with!
Happy blog birthday! Now this is the way to celebrate blog anniversaries! Why have I never done that? (FYI: I’m Swedish and I love, love, love smörgåstårta. And salmon. Just found this site via CraftGossip and had to check it out as it mentioned one of my favourite party dishes.)
As a kid I always thoroughly enjoyed helping mom make smörgåstårtor the day before a party. Especially to be the one in charge of the garnishing. And then making (open face) sandwiches with the leftover fillings and bread slices. Yummy!
My mom usually makes her smörgåstårta with three fillings: 1) tuna, hard boiled eggs, mayo, sour cream and whipped cream; 2) ham, tangerines in syrup (drained), mayo, sour cream, whipped cream; 3) mixed fruits in light syrup (drained), mayon, sour cream, whipped cream. And I must have corn and cucumber among the toppings/garnish. A perfect mix between savoury — the ham we use is quite salt — and sweet, between mild and more distinct flavours. Heavenly!
That sounds fantastic! You’re so lucky to have grown up with these. Thanks so much for sharing your tradition. 🙂
Looks amazing – would love to give this a go in a less fishy combination!
For perfect boiled eggs without the black ring, boil them for 10 minutes and then get them *immediately* into cold water – I tip my pan at an angle and keep them under a running cold tap for a good 30 seconds before sitting them in a bowl of cold water but plunging them into iced water would work too. x
Would love to make this without the fish too, any suggestions for substitutes?
If you run a google search for smorgastarta you’ll see an incredible variety of interpretations. The traditional Swedish versions will often involve fish but you can apply this approach to any ingredients you like. I saw some nice ones with Italian cured meats.
That is absolutely amazing, Kathy. Congrats on 4 years, and I look forward to more of your panini creations!
congratulations! Wow how beautiful. I just pinned it! I’ve never seen a non sweet cake! I love smoked salmon too.
Everything looks delicious…I just pinned this too!
This look absolutely spectacular! Can’t wait to try makeing one of these on the weekend. Thanks for sharing.
Wow. Just wow. Not only does this look absolutely out of this world, but I’m all over what’s inside!!! What a great job you did putting it together! And happy birthday to your blog!!
Amazing cake! Looks delicious and I LOVE smoked salmon. One question, did you use dark syrup in the cake as the recipes calls for? Do you have any suggestions for it? I don’t use it in my cooking and would rather not buy it if I don’t have to!
I had to do a bit of googling to find out what to do about the dark syrup. I went with dark corn syrup, which I had on hand, and it worked out well. I also read that molasses was a good substitute.
What an inspiring photo! I am going to make this on Friday for some of my former Japanese cooking students. They will LOVE it as they have
“sushi cakes.” And all this fine-tuned fussing is right up their alley.
Actually I think we will make it together!
Cheers,
Debra
Sushi cakes?? Oh wow! I need to look those up – they sound phenomenal (I love sushi)!
Happy Birthday to your blog! Looking forward to another year of your delicious posts like this creative cake. I wish I could cut myself a thick slice right now.
I love this idea in fact I would like to make it just the way you have but my family my not share my enthusiasm. I will make this with the Italian cured meats. Thanks so much
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing and Happy Birthday!
Oh yum!! I had one at a friend’s b’day party in grade school and will always remember it. It was oblong shaped and I wondered why she had green peppers on top of her pink icing! The “icing” was cream cheese and the cake was egg salad, tuna salad and chicken salad. I loved it!
Thanks for sharing!
Barb
Wow! This just looks amazing and I can’t believe it’s taken me FOUR years to find your blog! I have a lot of catching up to do.
I just need an excuse now to plan a summer party … it’s the Queen’s Jubilee year in the UK this June and this would just be perfect.
Thanks so much for sharing and I love your photography.
I’ll look forward to visiting again…
Best wishes Kitty 🙂
does the bread get soggy?
The bread is supposed to absorb the flavors of the fillings. Soggy in a good way.
This brought back memories. My Mom, use to make this with a horizontal sliced loaf of bread from the bakery. She used like chicken or ham salad filling and frosted it with cream cheese tinted with a color. She usually made this when her church or extension group was meeting at our home and she always made it feel like an occasion. Thanks.
This is so creative. I am speechless. Looks gorgeous!!
How big is this cake? Im just asking because the one on Saveur looks smaller…
I baked the bread in a 9-inch springform pan.
I’m Swedish and grew up on these cakes. We usually serve them on special occasions as well.. I have never baked the bread for the cake as I’m afraid the bread would be too dense, how did your bread come out? In Sweden we can buy the special white bread that is used in the traditional sandwich cakes, so that makes it easy. There are soo many variations for this cake, my favorite is the Cake with the shrimp and lemon mayo. I have never used cream cheese and sour cream as the mix to put on the outside, but I’m sure that tasted real good with the smoked salmon..I was actually thinking of promoting this cake to some of my clients as I do catering sometimes. Glad you had fun and liked it.
Wow, this is wonderful, beautiful decorations, very springtime, I love, I’ll do the same thing but with my pancakes” millefeuilles” Sea (album facebook) Thanks for sharing, and congratulations….
The first time I had this – something like this – was at my cousin’s high school graduation in 1977. My aunt was always the “trendy” aunt even though they lived in what we still call Hooterville. This is so tasty! She didn’t use any fish, but just fabulous all the same! You did such a beautiful job! Congrats on 4 years!
It is a good thing we are a fan of smoked salmon. So making this for hubby’s birthday this year since he is really more of a savoury person.
We use to make a version of this for bridal showers. But we had one layer of tuna fish, omelayer of ham salad and one of egg salad. It was really good. Also we would buy a unsliced loaf of white bread.
Do you think you can cheat with a round french bread and just removed the crust and sliced crosswise? Congrats on your 4th year!
The challenge with using a French bread round is that you most likely won’t have layers that are the same diameter. If you don’t mind a dome-shaped cake, I’m sure it would work. The benefit that baking the bread in the springform pan gives is straight sides so that each bread layer will be the same size.
I am going to try this but want to know if the bread ever gets soggy?
I noticed your reply about the soggy bread..thanks I am going to try this for my mother for mothers day brunch..
Um, how do you eat this? It seems the bread is too dense to eat with just a fork like a sweet cake, do you use your hands? Or a knife and fork?
Actually, the fillings soften the bread quite a bit. You just slice it and eat it with a fork like a cake!
In Sweden we eat it with fork and knife 🙂
My mother made a version of this for years when I was growing up. I was great summer time food when one didn’t want to serve hot food. She always made her own bread so she used that so it was always rectangular. Never knew it was Swedish in origin, but then I never saw mom using a recipe either. We were pretty much vegetarian so mom’s fillings for the layers were pimento cheese, egg salad, and a ham type salad using a vegetarian meat substitute called Nuteena to which black olives were added. I don’t recall her frosting the “cake” with creme cheese, but she must have at some point because I know it is supposed to be on there. Your version is so beautiful it makes me want to go out and get the ingredients to make one right now.
I am so going to try this for Father’s Day ! Since we live in the south, I’m going to try crab salad and shrimp salad in layers! Can’t wait to try it!
Sounds terrific – I hope you enjoy it!
WOW. This was a huge hit on Father’s day, thank you for the fantastic recipe and very helpful step-by-step! I’m pregnant so unfortunately had to substitute the smoked salmon. I used egg salad, which was very good, but will definitely try again with the smoked fish when I’m able. I found canned smoked herring for the mousse (evidently the canned fish doesn’t carry the same risk of listeria as the refrigerated stuff), it was, OK, but not as good as I had hoped. A couple of questions: (1) anyone know of any “safe” smoked fish, or if it can be cooked first? It would be fun to to try another kind. (2) how much of this could be made in advance? i’d love to bring one to an afternoon party next weekend, which doesn’t give much time to prepare that day. Do you think the bread could be made the night before? thanks again!
This cake looks so amazing! Just recently my Mom and I threw a luncheon for my bridesmaids and I was so insistent on playing with this cake idea! We ended up going with miniature versions and using chicken salad instead of fish. It was soooo good, so pretty and so unique! It was the perfect way to kick off our elegant tea- time-like luncheon! You were our inspiration 🙂 My recipe version is on my blog today and the luncheon was on last week! Thank you 🙂
Took “the better part of a day” to put together??? Food sitting out most of a day is inviting food poisoning. What took so long so we can be prepared!!!
yes but more importantly……………does the bread get soggy?
Wet, yes, as there are wet fillings on the bread, but it doesn’t get especially soggy. This bread recipe soaks up moisture well without disintegrating. I don’t like soggy bread at all either.
While visiting my grandmother in New England, a popular local sandwich shop asked me if I wanted my bread buttered for the sandwiches I ordered. Since I’d never heard of buttering the bread of sandwiches that also had mayo/mustard, and weren’t grilled, I asked why the butter. The sandwich maker explained the butter prevented the bread from becoming soggy from mustard or mayo.
This was back in the old days when people still believed fats heavily contributed to heart disease, so I didn’t try it. Since learning that sugars, grains, starches are much worse that fats, I still haven’t tried buttering my sandwich bread, but plan to when I become decent at making low carb breads. And once that happens, I’ll definitely try making these cakewiches, using butter to prevent the bread from becoming soggy.
when i was packing sack lunches(lol)…i used to use fr onion{ light layer} instead of mayo…and as long as i didnt get too warm it was not soggy…and mustard is similar depending on your fillings…i have already thought of a couple things to try ill let you know how it pans out
sorry fr onion chip dip…sorry
I like the sound of the French onion!
I have made this as a rectangular shape with square bread with crusts cut off. Layered with chicken salad, ham salad and egg salad.It is the beast. We made one cake slice for a fav teacher for her lunch. It was a big hit.
I have made something similar to this however like you say people have to like smoked fish and some do not. As a caterer I created layers with egg salad, ham salad and tuna salad and for those who don’t care for tuna salad I substituted chicken salad. A really good combination either way.
What a fun idea, and for sure would be awesome for any party! I found your blog on Pinterest, and I just love it:-) The Smorgastarta is really beautiful, and packed full of gorgeous flavors:-) Take care, Terra
This is such a cool presentation! I found you via Pinterest and just shard on my Facebook page. I will definitely try making this for party it is sure to get noticed!
Se ve muy rico el pastel, felicitaciones tan solo un detalle porque no ponen en español también por favor si me ayudan gracias por su gentileza.
Hugo
Gracias, Hugo. Si copia la URL de esta página en http://translate.google.com se traducirá la página para usted.
We love the cake and my husband I made it; he took great pleasure in putting it together. However, I would like the recipe for making the herring mousse and also the bread recipe as I would like to make it again for my birthday next month and we would like to get it JUST right!
Thank you for a brilliant idea,
Helen Methley
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Helen! The link to the smörgåstårta recipe is in the middle of the post – I just went in and added a second link at the end so it’ll be easier to find. 🙂
I’m hungry now 😀 .
I just saw this for the first time and it’s still WOW WOW WOW!
My mom made a loaf shaped one for my sisters bridal shower about 30 years ago. You are making me want to do it again!!!
This is something awesome, a sandwich salad cake, wow, yummy!
i love it!~ im ganna make one for christmas!! beautiful peice of food!
this idea is wanderful
This sounds really interesting, I’m always looking for something different. Please! we need printer friendly versions!!!
How amazing to see this on line. It is beautiful. I have been making a version of this for years for showers and small gatherings (though mine is rectangular) and it is always a hit. Next time I think I will add some decorations like you have- crispy veggies would be a nice contrast to the creamed fillings. Ironically I come from a Scandinavian background and never associated it with those countries.
Nice looking, creative and yummy!
Thank you, Cynthia!
Very good “cake”, quite imaginative CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR HARD WORk, that it is seen in all the preparation !!!
I absolutely love this cake and I am definitely going to make it at some point! Thank you for the inspiration.x
How long did you knead the bread dough? The recipe just says to knead, but 1 minute? 10?
Hi Cari – It’s been a few years since I made this so I don’t recall exactly, but I think somewhere around 10 minutes is about right. Here’s a post from The Kitchn with some good guidelines for how to know when dough has been kneaded long enough: http://www.thekitchn.com/bread-baking-tip-how-to-tell-w-156772
I bet this would be good a number of ways. A vegetarian version is what I am thinking for a baby shower.
Hi I am Norwegian living in the US, I grew up near the Swedish border and Smørgåstårta was a regular at out house, so thanks for posting, now a question, if you live in the US where did you get that type of shrimp?
Hi Tina – I can find the small shrimp in my local grocery store, here in CA!
Just came over here from the FB most popular posts thread and had to laugh.
I’ve lived in Sweden (twice!) and people FLIP out over these things. I don’t like any of the ingredients other than bread so I was always like, “Oh… no, thank you. I *just* ate!”
Any special occasion = smörgåstårta! And you did a beautiful job with yours. 🙂
YES, my Swedish friends have told me these were a favorite in their houses. 🙂
Kathy, this may not have been your brain child, but THANK YOU for sharing it! This is brilliant! I love the idea that you can make one of these with your own favorite ingredients and be creative!! Again, Brilliant!
Such a fabulous tradition, well worth sharing – thanks, Maggie!
Hummmmmmmm…… it’ beautiful!
Thanks!
Cris
That is the most beautiful sandwich I have ever seen.
I hope you’re getting quite a bit of traffic from all the searching of sandwich cakes I’ve done the past couple of days. Yours is so pretty. I’ll have to show you my finished product. Hoping it turns out as lovely as yours.
Hello there. Thank you for sharing. That is definitely something new and creative to me. I just have one quick question if you don’t mind? How do you or can you prevent the bread from getting soggy? I’m baffled by that lol. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Lora
Hi Lora — This is one time that you do actually want the bread to take on a little moisture. Not to the point of being soggy and saturated, but the fillings are intended to flavor the bread and be a little moist. ~ Kathy
We trying to make This beautyful cakesandwich!!’
Thanks
Oh, my gosh, I have to try this!! So yummy and refreshing.
Muy exquisito luce este sandwich para mi algo muy novedoso, saludable y práctico a mi familia le encantará, muchas gracias por compartir recetas de este estilo. ¡Bendiciones luminosas para tod@s!