What Is a Roulade? Sweet, Savoury and Swiss Roll
What is a roulade? A roulade is a dish made from a flat sheet of sponge, meringue, meat, fish or pastry spread with a filling and rolled into a spiral. The name comes from the French rouler, "to roll". Sweet roulades include the Swiss roll, chocolate roulade, meringue roulade and the Christmas yule log, while savoury ones include German beef rouladen and spinach roulade.
At a glance
- Say itroo-LAHD, from French rouler
- Sweet or savourysponge, meringue, meat, fish or veg
- 33 x 23cmSwiss roll tin used in BBC Food recipes
- 58.4gcarbs per 100g homemade Swiss roll (CoFID)
On this page
Chocolate roulades and yule logs appear on a lot of dessert tables in December, and you'll see savoury roulades on restaurant menus all year round. So what is a roulade, and is it just a fancy name for a Swiss roll? This guide explains what a roulade is, the main sweet and savoury types, how it differs from a Swiss roll, yule log and pavlova, how a sweet roulade is made and rolled without cracking, how to store it and how many carbs it has.
What is a roulade?
Wikipedia defines a roulade as a savoury or sweet dish that is filled and rolled into a spiral shape. It's usually made from a flat piece of meat, fish, bread, pastry, meringue or sponge cake wrapped around a soft filling, so that each slice shows a spiral. The name comes from the French verb rouler, meaning "to roll", and it's pronounced roo-LAHD (/ruːˈlɑːd/).
Wikipedia says many European cuisines have their own roulades, and it gives the Swiss roll as a typical example of a sweet one. In the UK, the word is most often seen on desserts: BBC Food groups "Swiss rolls and roulades" together, with recipes ranging from a classic jam-filled sponge to Mary Berry's chocolate roulade and strawberry meringue roulade.
Wikipedia notes that roulade is also a musical term, and that the dish shouldn't be confused with remoulade, which is a different word altogether.
Types of roulade
Wikipedia explains that sweet roulades are made with a flat sponge cake, meringue or pastry, covered with a filling and rolled up. Savoury roulades use a thin slice of meat, fish or pastry rolled around a filling. These are the main types you're likely to meet.
| Type | Outer layer | Typical filling |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss roll | Thin sponge with flour | Jam, cream or buttercream |
| Chocolate roulade | Flourless chocolate sponge | Whipped cream |
| Meringue roulade | Thin baked meringue | Cream and fruit |
| Yule log | Sponge, iced like bark | Cream or buttercream |
| Savoury roulade | Meat, fish or vegetable | Cheese, vegetables, meat |
Based on Wikipedia (Roulade, Swiss roll, Yule log) and BBC Food recipes. Checked 10 November 2026.
Wikipedia lists the poppy seed roll and jam roly-poly among sweet roulades too, and notes that a suet pudding or pastry can be rolled in the same way as a sponge.
Roulade vs Swiss roll
A Swiss roll is a type of roulade, not a separate thing. Wikipedia describes the Swiss roll as a rolled sweet roulade, made from sponge cake filled with whipped cream, fruit preserves, icing or another sweet filling. It also notes that in France, Switzerland and Denmark the cake itself is simply called a roulade, and that it's known as a jelly roll in the United States.
In everyday UK recipes the two names tend to follow the sponge. BBC Food's chocolate Swiss roll, by Justine Pattison, uses 65g of plain flour in a whisked egg sponge. Mary Berry's chocolate roulade, also on BBC Food, uses no flour at all: the sponge is just dark chocolate, eggs, caster sugar and a little cocoa powder, and the recipe warns that it will fall and crack a little.
Despite the name, Wikipedia says the Swiss roll probably didn't come from Switzerland. It's believed to have originated elsewhere in Central Europe, possibly Austria, in the 19th century. The earliest British reference to a "Swiss roll" that Wikipedia gives is an 1856 advert in the Birmingham Journal.
Roulade vs yule log
A yule log, or bûche de Noël, is a Christmas roulade. Wikipedia says it's a form of sweet roulade made to look like a small log, which emerged in the 19th century, probably in France. It's traditionally baked in a shallow Swiss roll tin, iced, rolled into a cylinder and iced again. A fork dragged through the icing gives a bark-like texture, and a dusting of powdered sugar looks like snow. Mary Berry's bûche de Noël on BBC Food cuts a piece off one end at an angle and sets it beside the log to look like a branch. If you're planning a chocolate yule log, our guide to what ganache is covers the chocolate and cream mixture Mary Berry pipes over her bûche de Noël.
Roulade vs pavlova
A meringue roulade and a pavlova start from the same thing: egg whites whisked with sugar. Wikipedia describes pavlova as a round, cake-like block of baked meringue with a crisp crust and a soft, light inside, usually topped with fruit and whipped cream. For a meringue roulade, Mary Berry spreads the meringue thinly in a Swiss roll tin, bakes it until crisp and firm to the touch, then fills and rolls it. For more on how egg whites and sugar become a foam, see our guide to what meringue is.
How a sweet roulade is made
Every sweet roulade follows the same basic steps, whether the base is a sponge or a meringue. This is how the BBC Food recipes and guidance describe it.
- Line a shallow tin. The BBC Food recipes use a 33 x 23cm Swiss roll tin lined with baking paper. Justine Pattison warns that a tin that's too large or too small gives a sponge that's hard to roll.
- Whisk plenty of air in. For a sponge, eggs and sugar are whisked until thick and pale. For Mary Berry's chocolate roulade, the yolks and sugar are whisked until thick and creamy, the cooled melted chocolate is folded in, and then the stiffly whisked egg whites are folded in gently. For her meringue roulade, the egg whites are whisked until very stiff, then the sugar is whisked in a teaspoon at a time until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
- Bake it thin and briefly. Justine Pattison's chocolate Swiss roll bakes for 11 to 12 minutes, while Mary Berry's flourless chocolate roulade takes 20 to 25 minutes.
- Turn it out. The sheet is turned out onto baking paper or a clean tea towel dusted with caster sugar, icing sugar or cocoa, and the lining paper is peeled off.
- Fill, score and roll. The filling is spread over, leaving a border. A shallow cut is made across one end, about 2cm in, and the roulade is rolled tightly from that end using the paper to help.
Why roulades crack
BBC Food says the main cause of cracking is overcooking. Any crispness or hardness in the sponge makes it liable to crack, so it suggests taking the sponge out when it's springy to the touch and just lightly golden. It also suggests rolling a sponge up while it's still warm and pliable, then letting it cool before you unroll it, fill it and roll it again. A cooled sponge, it explains, keeps its shape better and won't melt a cream filling.
A flourless chocolate roulade is a little different. Mary Berry's recipe leaves the sponge to cool completely in the tin and says to expect it to fall and crack a little. She adds that cracking while rolling is quite normal and "all part of its charm".
Both Mary Berry and Justine Pattison score a line across one short end of the sponge, about 2cm to 3cm in and roughly halfway through, before rolling. Rolling from the scored edge, both recipes say, helps give a tight, even spiral.
Savoury roulades
Wikipedia says a savoury roulade is usually a slice of meat, fish or pastry rolled around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, or other meat or fish. Like a braised dish, it's often browned, covered with wine or stock and cooked, and it's held together with a cocktail stick, skewer or string before being sliced into rounds. Well-known examples include:
- Rinderroulade. German and Hungarian beef roulade, filled with onions, bacon and pickles.
- Paupiette. A French veal roulade.
- Involtini. Italian "little bundles" of thin beef, pork or chicken rolled around a filling, often with grated cheese, and sometimes made with aubergine or swordfish.
- Rollade. In the Netherlands, usually rolled pork, often without a filling.
Vegetables can be rolled too. CoFID, the UK's main food composition dataset, lists a spinach roulade, which you'll find in the carbs table below.
Serving and storing a roulade
BBC Food says Swiss rolls are usually served in slices, and the Mary Berry recipes finish with a dusting of icing sugar. How long a roulade keeps depends on the filling, so follow the recipe you're using.
- Cream-filled. BBC Food says Swiss rolls should be eaten within a few days of making, and kept in the fridge in an airtight container if the filling contains cream. BBC Good Food says its chocolate meringue roulade keeps chilled for up to a day.
- Buttercream-filled. Justine Pattison's chocolate Swiss roll keeps loosely wrapped or in a cake tin for up to 5 days, in the fridge if it's kept for more than 3 days or in hot weather.
- Freezing. The same recipe says the filled Swiss roll can be wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months, then defrosted at room temperature for 1½ to 2 hours.
Carbs in a roulade
Sweet roulades and Swiss rolls get most of their carbohydrate from sugar. CoFID lists these figures per 100g, with a savoury roulade and double cream for comparison.
| Per 100g | Carbs | Sugars | Fat | kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss roll, homemade | 58.4g | 42.2g | 4.2g | 286 |
| Chocolate Swiss roll, shop | 51.0g | 41.2g | 22.7g | 414 |
| Meringue with cream | 27.2g | 27.2g | 24.2g | 331 |
| Spinach roulade | 4.5g | 2.0g | 13.3g | 182 |
| Double cream | 1.7g | 1.7g | 53.7g | 496 |
CoFID 2021 codes 11-1125 (Cake, Swiss roll, homemade), 11-834 (Cake, Swiss rolls, chocolate covered and filled, retail), 12-585 (Meringue, with cream, homemade), 15-869 (Roulade, spinach) and 12-334 (Cream, fresh, double). UK carbohydrate figures don't include fibre. Checked 10 November 2026.
Another way to see it is to look at how much sugar goes into each slice. These are our own calculations from the BBC Food recipes, each of which serves 8, counting only the sugar listed in the recipe and not the dusting.
| Recipe | Sugar in recipe | Per slice |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate roulade (Mary Berry) | 175g caster | About 22g |
| Chocolate Swiss roll (Justine Pattison) | 100g caster + 150g icing | About 31g |
| Strawberry meringue roulade (Mary Berry) | 275g caster | About 34g |
Our own calculation: grams of sugar listed in each BBC Food recipe ÷ 8 servings. Doesn't include sugar in the chocolate, fruit or dusting. Checked 10 November 2026.
Is roulade keto?
A traditional sweet roulade isn't a natural fit for keto, because most of its carbohydrate is sugar, as the tables show. Savoury roulades are a different story: CoFID's spinach roulade has 4.5g of carbohydrate per 100g. The cream filling itself adds little, at 1.7g of carbohydrate per 100g of double cream.
For a sweet roulade, the sugar is the part to change, but it's not a simple swap. Wikipedia explains that sugar helps form and stabilise a whisked egg-white foam, so a sponge or meringue made with a sweetener won't necessarily behave in quite the same way. The filling and finish are easier to change than the base.
Roulades with our products
We don't have a roulade recipe of our own yet, but these products can stand in for sugar in the filling and finish, based on what each product page says. For a chocolate cake with a ganache finish, see our keto chocolate cake recipe.
- For the cream and the dusting. Powdered Erythritol & Stevia Blend is a fine powder of erythritol and stevia in a 1kg pouch. Its product page lists whipped cream among its uses and says to use it 1:1 in place of icing sugar.
- For a chocolate filling or bark. Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons are 64% cocoa minimum, sweetened with erythritol and stevia, and come in a 210g pouch. The product page suggests melting them into chocolate sauces and ganache.
- If you want to experiment with the base. Granulated Erythritol & Stevia Blend is a 1kg blend of erythritol and stevia that its product page says replaces sugar 1:1. As explained above, a whisked sponge or meringue made with it may not set or roll in the same way as one made with sugar.
Product details are as shown on each product page. Free delivery on orders over £30.
Baking for Christmas? Our last order date for Christmas delivery is 18 December 2026.
The sweet roulades in this guide contain egg, and their cream fillings contain milk. Justine Pattison's Swiss roll uses wheat flour, and Mary Berry's meringue roulade adds flaked almonds. Our Powdered and Granulated Erythritol & Stevia Blends contain erythritol, a polyol, and excessive consumption of polyols may produce laxative effects. The Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons product page says they contain sweeteners and that excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect. Always check the pack for full allergen information.
Key takeaways
- A roulade is any rolled, filled dish. Sponge, meringue, meat, fish or vegetables are rolled around a filling into a spiral.
- A Swiss roll is a sweet roulade. So is the Christmas yule log, or bûche de Noël.
- Cracking is normal. Don't overbake the sponge, and roll it from a scored edge.
- Storage depends on the filling. Cream-filled roulades go in the fridge.
- Sweet roulades are mostly sugar. A homemade Swiss roll has 58.4g of carbs per 100g, according to CoFID.
Frequently asked questions
Is a roulade the same as a Swiss roll?
A Swiss roll is one kind of roulade. Wikipedia describes a roulade as any sweet or savoury dish that is filled and rolled into a spiral, and calls the Swiss roll a type of sweet roulade. On BBC Food, Justine Pattison's chocolate Swiss roll uses plain flour, while Mary Berry's chocolate roulade is made without it.
How do you pronounce roulade?
Roulade is pronounced roo-LAHD, with the stress on the second syllable. Wikipedia gives the pronunciation as /ruːˈlɑːd/ and explains that the name comes from the French verb rouler, meaning "to roll". The same word is used for the sweet desserts and for savoury rolled dishes made with meat, fish or vegetables.
Why does my roulade crack?
A little cracking is normal. Mary Berry's chocolate roulade recipe on BBC Food says to expect it, calling it part of the charm. BBC Food warns that an overcooked, crisp sponge is more likely to crack, and suggests rolling a sponge while it's still warm and pliable, then cooling it before filling and re-rolling.
Is a roulade the same as a pavlova?
No, although a meringue roulade and a pavlova start from the same whisked egg whites and sugar. Wikipedia describes pavlova as a round block of baked meringue with a crisp crust and soft centre. In Mary Berry's meringue roulade on BBC Food, the meringue is spread thinly in a Swiss roll tin, baked, filled and rolled.
How long does a roulade keep?
It depends on the filling and the recipe. BBC Food says Swiss rolls should be eaten within a few days, and kept in the fridge in an airtight container if they're filled with cream. BBC Good Food says its chocolate meringue roulade keeps chilled for up to a day. Always follow the storage advice in your recipe.
Sources
- Wikipedia. Roulade (definition, pronunciation, name origin, sweet and savoury types, European variants). Checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Swiss roll (Swiss roll as a sweet roulade, other names, likely origin, early British reference). Checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Yule log (cake) (yule log as a sweet roulade, origin, how it's made and decorated). Checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Pavlova (dessert) and Meringue (what a pavlova is; sugar's role in an egg-white foam). Checked 10 November 2026.
- BBC Food. Swiss rolls and roulades (definition, method, avoiding cracks, storage). Checked 10 November 2026.
- BBC Food. Mary Berry's chocolate roulade, Strawberry meringue roulade, Chocolate Swiss roll and Bûche de Noël (ingredients, servings, tin size, method, storage and freezing). Checked 10 November 2026.
- BBC Good Food. Chocolate roulade (chocolate meringue roulade method and storage). Checked 10 November 2026.
- Public Health England / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Composition of foods integrated dataset (CoFID) 2021 (codes 11-1125, 11-834, 12-585, 15-869 and 12-334). Checked 10 November 2026.
- Groovy Keto product pages: Powdered Erythritol & Stevia Blend, Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons and Granulated Erythritol & Stevia Blend (ingredients, sizes, suggested uses and label lines as shown). Checked 10 November 2026.
