Vegan Swedish sandwich cake-smörgåstårta

A Vegan Carrot lox sandwich cake tastes like real salmon cake. Perfect for those with dairy or fish allergies.

Smörgåstårta is a Swedish sandwich layer cake. It is easy to make from toast. The variety of fillings is endless.

This vegan carrot lox cake recipe tastes like a salmon sandwich cake even though the "salmon" is made of carrot. Some caviart, seaweed caviar gives more seafood taste to this cake. The filling for this cake is made from skagenröra, a vegan version of Swedish prawn salad with tofu.

Ingredients and replacements

• Wheat toast. You can also use a wholegrain version.
• Carrot lox, can be replaced with vegan salmon cuts.
• Plant milk. For moistening, can be replaced with vegetable broth.
• Vegan mayonnaise, can be replaced with vegan cream cheese or vegan creme fraiche.
• Red onion
• Caviart, seaweed pearls
• Smoked tofu. If you have soy allergy use carrot lox in the filling instead of tofu.
• Dill
• Parsley or pea sprouts
• Vegan cream cheese. You can use a flavored cream cheese if you like to.
• Fresh lemon
• Cucumber, eventually for decorating.
• Spices: Lemon pepper, salt

A vegetarian version is made with regular milk cream cheese.

What type of bread should you use?

The easiest bread option to make a sandwich cake is to use regular wholegrain or plain white wheat toast.

In Finland, some people also like to use a rye bread loaf. You need to moisten rye bread a bit more so it does not end up being dry. There is also toast that is made of rye or oat flour. Those are perfect for the cake. Fluffy bread makes it easy to cut the cake.

You can also use self-made bread that is made in a bread pan. There are rectangular and round bread pans. If you use a round loaf, then make the cake also round. First traditional Swedish sandwich cakes were round.

This is how you asseble a sandwich cake

Start by making your carrot lox the day before or some hours before you assemble your cake. Make also the filling. For detailed info on how to make vegan skagenröra, check here.

1. Cut the bread slices to be even and the same size.
2. Choose a board you want to assemble your cake. You can use a piece of parchment paper under the cake if you want to protect your board.
3. Moisten the bread layers slightly with plant milk or vegetable broth. A silicone brush is great for this, or use some other brush you can find.
4. Put vegan Skagen, the tofu filling, evenly on the first layer. Top it with 3 bread slices and moisten them.
5. On the second layer, spread some of the filling and some chopped carrot salmon.
6. On the third layer, spread the rest of the Skagen spread. Cover with 3 bread slices, and do not moisten the top layer.
7. Trim the edges with a knife if you need to get it even.
8. Spread cream cheese evenly around the whole cake.
9. Decorate with a design you like.

History of sandwich cake

The origin of sandwich cake is Sweden. The recipe with variations has spread to be famous all around Scandinavia. They are also eaten in Finland, Norway, and Estonia.

The first recipes are in a Swedish cookbook from 1903. In the 1940s, a layered sandwich cake became more famous, and the idea was presented in some more cookbooks. In the beginning, sandwich cakes were round. They were filled with butter, liver pate, spreadable cheese, chopped cooked egg, anchovy, or salmon and decorated with vegetables, egg, and salmon.

Smörgåstårta day, Sandwich layer cake day is 13 November in Sweden. This is the birthday of Gunnar Sjödahl. He was a confectioner and made the Sandwich cake famous with his recipe that he developed in 1965.

When is Sandwich cake traditionally served?

Sandwich cakes are served at many parties and gatherings. For example, when we graduate from high school, serving savory sandwich cakes with salmon and meat variations is quite traditional.

How is a traditional smörgåstårta made?

You usually make two or three different fillings for one cake. The base is usually mayonnaise or cream cheese. The filling is traditionally made from smoked salmon or tuna, dill, egg, shrimp, caviar, and cucumber for a fish cake.

The filling can be smoked pork cubes or roasted beef with some bell peppers, liver pate, olives, cheese, sundried tomato, pickles, or capers for a meaty version.

Sandwich cakes are traditionally decorated with cheese spread and grated cheese. On top, some cold cuts or smoked salmon rolled as roses, pea sprouts, cucumber slices, herbs, and such.

How to make a vegan version?

A vegan sandwich cake is made by replacing dairy products with vegan ones. There are great versions of vegan cream cheeses that will taste great.

To make a cake taste salmony in a vegan version, you can use vegan carrot salmon called carrot lox. I think it tastes good on this cake. There are also very authentic-tasting vegan cold cuts you can use for a "meat" version.

This salty treat is light and not too heavy. Preparation is relatively easy, but it is good to make a day ahead so it moistens. 

You can also make small cute sandwich cakes as a fancy appetizer.