Best Home Tips and Tricks: Tea Sandwich Cake For Spring Parties

Tea Sandwich Cake For Spring Parties

Tea sandwich cake is something that I’ve seen before at a couple of brunches. What could be better on a warm afternoon spent outside than eating something savory and light and sipping some southern “unsweet tea”? Easy to make and much simpler to transport if you are headed to a gathering. Your guests will be impressed and surprised because if you cover it a bit more carefully than I did here they might think that it’s a sweet tea cake and not a sandwich

When I think of tea cakes it calls to mind delicate cucumber sandwiches that I’ve had at tea time in England as a visitor. I envision old fashioned tearooms that still exist here in the south. I harken back to darling tea parties with my girls when they were young. I’ve seen these tea sandwich cakes referred to as Swedish Smorgastata, and they are generally made with salmon. Let’s cut to the chase and I’ll tell you how I made mine.

Tea Sandwich Cake Recipe

Get yourself a loaf of round hearty sandwich bread from the bakery from the grocery store. Don’t let them slice it! You’ll do that yourself by slicing off the top (bottom is optional) and the crust on the sides to form a cake shape.

Cut three layers out of your round circle of bread. Because this is real life and not a highly curated recipe blog, it looks rustic. You’ll be frosting your 3 layer tea sandwich cake so you can make it pretty ultimately and add a variety of embellishments.

I start my frosting on any layer cake by placing squares of wax paper on a plate as shown and add a dollop of frosting in the center. The dollop of frosting keeps the cake from sliding around while you frost. When you are satisfied with the finished product you pull off the wax paper pieces and voila…a clean plate!

I used whipped cream cheese (the kind in tubs) as frosting and spread a thick layer on top of the bottom layer.

Savory ingredients

Around our home we like savory and my husband is a huge fan of sweet gherkin pickles. The first layer may not look pretty…but wait! I added thinly sliced cucumber, sweet pickle relish and shredding lettuce on top (not shown). It gets better and is delicious…promise!

Before you add your second layer and any subsequent layers you’ll need to add a layer of cream cheese to the bottom. Place that layer face down to your decorated layer and frost the top. Next start adding your favorite ingredients o the next layer. Thinly sliced radishes and salmon are typical for the Swedish tea sandwich cake, but ours is the vegetarian version.

I love tangy dill and topped the second layer with some sprigs.

Once you have your second layer finished, add a layer of cream cheese to the next layer and add it with the “frosted” side down. Then take your spatula or frosting knife and spread it around the top and the sides thickly. The thick layer of cream cheese will prevent the bread from going stale. Make this the night before it will be served so that you’ll be ready to go the next day!

Decorate the top of the cake with whatever you choose. I kept it simple and added a few slices of radish over dill, but you can really get carried away!