Chocolate Roulade with Peanut Butter Buttercream Recipe – Gluten Free Recipe

This deliciously moist Chocolate Roulade with Peanut Butter Icing is packed full of flavour AND is gluten free! Whether you want to call it a roulade, a swiss roll, a cake roll or a jelly roll, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a delicious way to eat cake in what I consider to be a much more pleasing cake to icing ratio. Every bit you take has a little bit of cake and icing in it and I am LIVING for it.

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So tell me more about this Chocolate Cake?

This Chocolate Roulade with Peanut Butter Icing is based on a chocolate sponge recipe. It’s gluten free and relies on the eggs to aerate the sponge. For this, you will need an electric whisk or stand mixer as it takes quite a bit of whisking.

Start off by making a meringue by whisking the egg whites and 75 grams of sugar for 4-5 minutes until stiff peaks form. This means the egg whites will hold it’s shape still when you take the whisk out. Remove the meringue to another bowl and add your egg yolks and remaining 100 grams of sugar to the mixing bowl. Whisk this until pale in colour and little bubbles form like the pictures below. This will take 4-5 minutes.

Next, add the melted dark chocolate and sieved cocoa powder and mix gently with a rubber spatula until totally incorporated. Add 1/3 of your meringue to the chocolate yolk mix and fold in thoroughly. Add the remaining meringue and fold gently until there are no more whites showing. Pour into a lined 38cm flat baking tray (like this one) and spread evenly. Bake immediately for 16-20 minutes (mine took 17 minutes). Place a damp cloth or tea towel over the surface of the sponge and leave to cool.

How do I make the Peanut Butter Buttercream?

I took the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction for Peanut Butter Frosting, it’s a super simple recipe that results in a fluffy creamy buttercream with loads of peanut butter flavour and not overly sweet. You simply add all ingredients to the mixing bowl and beat well for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy. I added in a little extra cream in mine and used crunchy peanut butter for extra texture. I used a large plain piping nozzle, like this one, for my decorating as a result. If you use chunky peanut butter you should avoid star nozzles as the chunks will just get stuck in the nozzle.

To assemble the roulade, flip it upside down onto a piece of baking parchment a little larger than the cake. Remove the baking parchment and spread about 2/3 of the peanut butter buttercream over the bottom of the cake evenly. Leave a slightly thinner layer of buttercream around all the edges. Begin to roll the cake up from the longer edge, using the parchment to help you roll until you reach the end. Chill for at least 30 minutes for a cleaner cut. Trim off the ends and cut into two. Use the rest of the buttercream for decoration.

Any tips for a perfect Chocolate Roulade from scratch?

-Take the time to properly whisk the egg whites and yolks. This roulade recipe relies on the eggs to aerate the sponge which results in a light textured cake.

-Be gentle when folding in the ingredients. Whisking your eggs to the right stage creates air and you don’t want to knock it all out when adding the ingredients. If you knock out too much air it will result in a deflated, thinner sponge. For more information on how to use the folding technique, check out the video below by Odlums.

-Follow the recipe step by step. This may seem obvious, but follow the recipe. Don’t forget to cover the cake with a damp cloth or tea towel and don’t roll this while hot. Unlike many swiss roll and roulade recipes, this does not need to be pre rolled while hot. In fact, in may break if you try to do this.

-This recipe does result in a Chocolate Roulade that is slightly cracked on the surface. Personally, I love the look, it gives character to the cake like a crinkle top on a brownie. You can cover this totally in Peanut Butter Buttercream if you prefer to hide it.

For more Gluten Free recipes check out my Gluten Free category, here.

Want more Chocolate recipes? Check out my Chocolate category, here.

And for more Cake recipes, check out my Cake category, here.