Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake)
The signature Swedish Midsummer cake: an airy sponge layered with vanilla cream and fresh strawberries, covered in whipped cream and crowned with more berries in the red-and-white of the Swedish flag.
Swedish · medium · serves 10
prep 45 min · cook 30 min
~395 cal · 8g protein · 36g carbs · 25g fat · 2g fiber · 21g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Jordgubbstårta, literally strawberry cake, is the dessert of Swedish Midsummer. In the days before Midsummer the price of strawberries climbs across the country, because a Swede must have strawberry cake on Midsummer's Eve no matter the cost. Its red and white echo the flag and the abundance of high summer.
The classic build is simple: a light sponge sliced into layers, each soaked lightly and spread with vanilla cream and sliced strawberries, the whole thing wrapped in softly whipped cream and topped with the best berries you can find. There are endless variations with custard, jam, meringue or nuts, but the plain sponge, cream and strawberries is the one everyone knows.
Bake the sponge a day ahead if you can; it slices more cleanly and the cake improves for a few hours in the fridge before serving.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 10
4 eggs (for the sponge)
140 g caster sugar
150 g plain flour
25 g butter, melted (for the sponge)
300 ml whole milk (for the vanilla cream)
3 egg yolks (for the vanilla cream)
2 tbsp cornstarch (for the vanilla cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
500 ml heavy cream, for filling and topping
600 g fresh strawberries
1 tbsp icing sugar, to dust
Instructions
1
Heat the oven to 180C. Line and grease a 24 cm round tin. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar over a pan of simmering water to about 60C, then off the heat until pale, thick and tripled in volume.
2
Sift in the flour in thirds, folding gently, then fold in the melted butter. Pour into the tin and bake 25 to 30 minutes until set and golden. Cool completely, ideally overnight.
✎ Chef’s note
Baking the sponge a day ahead makes it slice cleanly and taste better.
3
For the vanilla cream, whisk the milk, egg yolks, cornstarch and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cool with a film on the surface.
4
Whip the cream to soft peaks. Slice the sponge into three layers. Spread the first with vanilla cream and sliced strawberries, the second with whipped cream and more strawberries.
5
Stack the layers, then cover the whole cake with the remaining whipped cream. Chill a few hours, then crown with whole and halved strawberries and dust with icing sugar just before serving.
Swedish Midsummer tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Skåne. Skane was Danish until 1658 and the kitchen still shows it. Saint Martin's Day on 10 November is kept here with roast goose and svartsoppa in a way the rest of Sweden does not bother with, and the east coast was long known as the eel coast, though that fishery is now tightly restricted.
🗺️
Sweden. Two Swedish rituals are more distinctive than the meatball. The kraftskiva, the August crayfish party, comes with paper hats, schnapps and singing, and is timed to a season that was once legally enforced. Surstromming is fermented Baltic herring, sold in tins that bulge from the pressure inside, and is opened outdoors by anyone with sense.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Sweden
Köttbullar (Swedish Meatballs)Small allspice-scented meatballs in cream gravy with potatoes and lingonberries, Sweden’s definitive comfort plate.
HavregrötWarm oat porridge topped with lingonberry or blueberry and a splash of cold milk.
RäksmörgåsA lavish open sandwich piled high with cold peeled shrimp, egg, and dill mayonnaise, a Swedish lunch indulgence.
Browse all Sweden recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Oven, Mould or tin, Whisk.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Sweden meal
Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake)?
The signature Swedish Midsummer cake: an airy sponge layered with vanilla cream and fresh strawberries, covered in whipped cream and crowned with more berries in the red-and-white of the Swedish flag.
Where does Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake) come from?
Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake) is a Swedish dish from Skåne, Sweden.
Can Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Jordgubbstårta (Strawberry Cream Cake) take to make?
About 75 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 10.
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