Punsch-roll Day in Sweden Date in the current year: March 7, 2024

Punsch-rolls (punschrulle) were named after a type of liqueur that is popular in Sweden and Finland. It originated as a variant of punch, but has become a beverage in its own right over time. Swedish punsch consists of a mixture of spirits (arrack, brandy, or rum) with spices, lemon, sugar, and water.

The pastry also has alternative names, such as dammsugare (“vacuum cleaner”), arraksrulle (“arrak rolls”) and 150-ohmare (“150-ohmers” because their traditional brown-green-brown color scheme on a resistor denotes a resistance value of 150 ohms). The name dammsugare is a reference to two things: the shape of the rolls that resembles an old-fashioned vacuum cleaner and the supposed practice of pastry bakers using crumbs from yesterday’s biscuits to make the filling and flavoring them with punsch or arrack to mask staleness.

The exact origin of punsch-rolls is unclear but the dessert is believed to have been created sometime in the first half of the 20th century. The word punschrulle has been recorded in the Swedish language since at least 1967, but the pastry itself is provably older than that.

Similar pastries exist in Denmark and the Netherlands. However, the Danish variant (træstamme, “tree trunk”) is neither flavored with liquor nor colored green, and the Dutch variant (mergpijpje, “marrowbone”) is covered in cream-colored marzipan instead of green and has a different filling (cream, cream and cake, or berry jam).

Punsch-rolls are made by mixing crushed biscuits or cake crumbs with melted butter, cocoa, and an alcoholic beverage such as punsch or arrack. The mixture is then shaped into cylinders, covered in marzipan (traditionally green, although other colors can also be used), and both ends of the confection are dipped in melted chocolate. Commercially produced punsch-rolls usually contain punsch flavoring instead of actual liqueur, which makes them safe for kids and pregnant women.

The origin of Punsch-roll Day is as obscure as the origin of the pastry it celebrates, but the holiday is said to have been created by some individual who came up with the idea in a Facebook post dated March 7, 2013. The Punschrullens dag Facebook page has been active since 2015.

If you happen to be in Sweden on or around March 7, you absolutely should celebrate Punsch-roll Day and enjoy this amazing punsch-flavored pastry, which is easy to find in any bakery or confectionery store. And don’t forget to post about the holiday on social media with the hashtag #PunschrollDay and #PunschrullensDag to spread the word!

By the way, Pusch-Roll Day is not the only pastry-related holiday in Sweden. The Swedes also celebrate Waffle Day on March 25, Cinnamon Roll Day on October 4, and Chocolate Mud Cake Day on November 7 – and these are just a few examples out of many, so there are plenty of occasions to indulge in delicious Swedish pastries and desserts.