CS Knowledge Base

Punsch-roll (Swedish: punschrulle) is a Swedish small cylindrical pastry covered with green marzipan with the ends dipped in chocolate, with an interior consisting of a mix of cake crumbs (and/or crushed biscuits), butter, and cocoa, flavoured with punsch liqueur. It has been popularised internationally through its sale in IKEA stores.^[2]

This pastry is often called dammsugare (lit. 'vacuum cleaner'),^[3] referring not only to its appearance, but also to the supposed practice of the pastry baker collecting crumbs from yesterday's cakes or biscuits for filling.^[4] Other names are arraksrulle (as arrak is an ingredient in punsch) and "150-ohmare" (lit. '150-ohmer'; because a brown-green-brown colour sequence on a resistor denotes a resistance value of 150 ohm).

The punschrulle has been popularised internationally, in part through its sale in IKEA stores.^[2] However, similar pastries existed in various countries long before its global distribution.

In Spain, huesos de santo (lit. 'saints' bones') have been prepared since at least the 17th century.^[5] These are marzipan cylinders filled with sweet egg yolk paste, bearing a resemblance in form but differing in ingredients and cultural context.

In the Netherlands, mergpijpje (lit. 'little marrowbone') has been known since at least the 19th century.^[6] It differs significantly in composition and flavour, typically consisting of a pale marzipan cover. It comes in two variants: a finger-sized variant with cream filling, and a large variant, reuzemergpijp ('giant marrowbone'), filled with cake, a layer of cream and sometimes also filled with a thin layer of berry jam.

A comparable pastry in Denmark is called træstamme (lit. 'tree trunk'), a traditional confection deeply rooted in Danish baking culture. Like the Swedish punschrulle, it is typically made from a mixture of leftover cake that is shaped into cylindrical logs and coated in chocolate, but it is usually not coloured green and often has rum added.^[7]

• Cookie butter