Smörgåstårta – Sandwich cake

The literal translation for this is sandwich cake – but really, that doesn’t do it justice. It is so much more than that, to be fair – a big, bold sharing sandwich that can be the centre piece on any festive Smorgasbord.

To be fair, many still make these as they made them back in the 80’s – load on the mayo, heavy on the decorative tomato flowers and some even (horror) fill these with a mixture of both seafood and meats, which is just… odd.

To make a nice smörgåstårta, first decide on some fillings that actually go together well. Prawns and egg? Yes. Add ham? No. if you wouldn’t eat it in a normal sandwich, it’s unlikely to be nice in a smörgåstårta.

There are a few hints and tips that can help you make a really nice smörgåstårta:

1. The fillings make sense and go together.
2. Mayonnaise isn’t the only thing that you can use to stick things together.
3. Less is actually more when it comes to decoration.
4. There are no rules – make your own.

We make this at the café for Midsummer. We only make one kind which is a smörgåstårta with prawn Skagen inside and some egg and salmon. It all works well together. We don’t overload the mayo, either – keep the fillings ‘dry’.

This serves 8-10 people (it’s heavy and people tend not to eat more than a slice).

Equipment: A mandolin slicer. If you do not have one of those, use a metal cheese planer, but you need a bit of patience.

Ingredients

9 slices of thick sliced white bread (crust cut off and exactly the same size)

Butter

For the first filling layer:

1 x 200g tub of ready made ScandiKitchen Skagenröra (or make your own, see below)

200g really nice prawns (save a few for decoration)

6-8 crab sticks, finely chopped

Freshly cut chives and dill

Mix the Skagenröra with the prawns and chopped crabsticks and some extra chives and dill. You need enough prawns/crabsticks to ensure the mixture is not too wet or it will squash between the bread.

To make your own Skagenröra (a fancy prawn mayo, really):

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 tbsp crème fraiche

1 tbsp mayonnaise

Squeeze of lemon juice

Salt, pepper.

Finely chopped dill and chives

Mixture of prawns and crayfish tails (as many as it takes to give you a not too creamy mixture – usually 150g).

Spoonful of red lumpfish roe (optional)

For second layer:

3 boiled eggs

1 heaped tbsp mayonnaise

1 heaped tbsp crème fraiche

¼ tsp Dijon mustard

100g smoked salmon, cut into bite sizes.

Chop the eggs and mix with the mayo, crème fraiche and mustard. Season to taste.

Topping / Decoration

2-3 whole cucumbers

More mayonnaise (about 150g)

Full fat Philadelphia cream cheese (about 150g)

Prawns

2 slices of smoked salmon (50g)

Pea shoots, fresh dill

4-5 cherry tomatoes in different colours

2 radishes, cut into 4 boats each

4-5 peas in pods

3-4 asparagus, lightly blanched and chilled

Here is how to assemble:

Place 3 slices of buttered bread on your chosen serving tray*.

Add a good layer of the finished Skagen mix across the bread, as evenly as you can. It should be a nice good thick layer that is not runny. Add 3 more buttered bread sliced on top.

On the second layer, add your egg mayo mixture. Again, it should be a dry mixture, so it doesn’t run out the sides. Add your salmon pieces across the top and then add the last layer of bread.

Carefully press down and secure the ‘cake’. Some people prefer to cover and refrigerate it at this point to let it set, but you don’t have to.

To decorate, make sure the sides are neat and lean (you can trim, if not). It should be as straight as possible.

Mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Using a spatula, spread the mixture around the side of the sandwiches and a thin layer on top. The straighter the sides of your base sandwich, the less mayo mix you will need. You only need enough to have a covering that is sticky enough to hold the thin cucumber slices in place. This is where a lot of people go wrong and add way too much mayo – and the overall result becomes sickly to eat. The leaner your filling and mayo spreading, the nice the smörgåstårta.

Once you’re done, using your mandolin slicer – and taking great care of your fingers – carefully slice cucumber thinly lengthways. Start from one end and start covering the sandwich the short side – adding a new slice every 1 ½ cm – and continue until almost midway at the top. Then repeat from the other side – and at the end, please 2-3 slices of cucumber on top to close the gap. You might need to use your fingers to press the slices down to make them stick better.  At the end, cut any edges from the base and tidy it a bit.

To decorate the top, use rolls of salmon, the extra prawns, quarters radish and cherry tomato – and then open pea shells, pea shoots and dill.

Refrigerate until serving. Do eat on the day of making, as the decorations won’t look as pretty the next day.

We will be serving this in the Café in London for Midsummer 26^th June 2021, by the slice – pop by and have a taste.