Bee Sting Cake (Bienenstich)

|Friday Baking Project|Cakes and Tortes, Friday Blog

09/13/2024

Bee Sting Cake, or Bienenstich in German, is a unique and absolutely delicious cake made from sweet yeast dough topped with caramelized almonds. After baking, the cake is split in half and filled with a custard filling.

I first experienced Bee Sting Cake while working at Patisserie Conversation in Philadelphia, where it was made using part of the morning’s brioche dough and a whipped cream lightened pastry cream. I found the trimmings irresistible, and the taste memory stayed with me. So, when I saw a recipe for the almond-honey topping on the King Arthur Baking Company web site I decided to give it a try.

For my version of Bee Sting Cake, I used our basic Sweet Yeast Dough and Pastry Cream recipes, and the King Arthur topping recipe. While the cake was cooling, the filling was prepared by lightening the pastry cream with unsweetened whipped cream and adding just enough leaf gelatin to help the filling hold its shape when sliced.

The 8” stainless cake ring used during baking is cleaned and used to form the cake. The key last step during assembly is to pre-slice the top layer before placing on top of the filling.

From my readings, Bienenstich was traditionally enjoyed during afternoon kaffeeklatsch, where coffee and cake were part of social gatherings with family and friends. In my experience, this delightful combination of yeast bread, custard, and sweetened almonds is also excellent for breakfast!

Bee Sting Cake (Bienenstich)

Yield: 1 8” cake

# of Servings: 10

Difficulty: Advanced

Ingredients
14 oz Brioche dough or Sweet Yeast Dough

Topping

3 tbl (1.5 oz / 43 g) unsalted butter
2 tbl + 2 tsp (1.2 oz / 34 g) granulated sugar
1 ½ tbl (1.1 oz / 31 g) honey
1 tbl heavy cream
¾ cup (2.6 oz / 73 g) blanched sliced almonds

Filling:

1 ½ cup (13 oz / 369 g) P astry Cream
1 ½ cup (12 fl oz) heavy cream
2 leaves (.15 oz / 4 g) gold leaf gelatin¹

Special equipment needed:

8” by 2” stainless steel cake ring
Heavy bottomed small saucepan
Small offset spatula
2” wide roll of acetate, optional

Pre-recipe preparations:

Make the dough and pastry cream the day before and store in the refrigerator.
Butter the inside of the cake ring

Directions:

On a lightly floured countertop, roll out the yeast dough to just over an 8” circle.
Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll onto on a silpat or parchment paper lined half-sheet pan or large cookie sheet.
Place the buttered cake ring over the dough and press down cut off any excess dough. If the dough has shrunk to less than 8”, gently push out toward the edge of the ring.
Cover with a sheet of plastic film and a kitchen towel, and let rise at room temperature.

Make the topping:

Melt the butter over a low flame in a small saucepan.
Add the sugar, honey and heavy cream and bring it to the boil.
Gently simmer for 1 ½ minutes, mixture should be a light gold color.
Stir in sliced almonds, mix well for 10 seconds and remove from the heat. Let cool for 5 minutes.
Pour over the dough and spread to the edges with either the offset spatula, plain plastic spatula, or soup spoon. Set aside on kitchen counter for twenty minutes, while the oven preheats.

Baking: Preheat oven to 350°F

Bake until golden brown, firm, and interior registers 205°F, from 22 to 26 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes,
Remove cake ring and let completely cool.

Making the filling and assembly:

Start a small saucepan of simmering water to act as a double boiler.
Place the leaf gelatin in a bowl of cold water to soften. Pick up the gelatin leaf and squeeze the excess water from it. Pour the water out of the bowl and return the softened leaf to the bowl.
Place bowl over water just until the gelatin liquifies. Remove and leave in warm spot.
Place pastry cream in large mixing bowl.
In chilled bowl with wire whip, whip cream until it starts to thicken. Pour in liquefied leaf gelatin. Continue beating until firm peaks just start to form.
Whisk ¼ of the whipped cream into the pastry cream to lighten. Fold in remainder. Let sit in refrigerator.
Slice cake in half horizontally. Place the bottom on a cake plate. On a cutting board, cut the top into 10 slices.
Spread the cream over the bottom layer. Press the top slices onto the filling, fitting them in snugly against each other. Let set in the refrigerator for one hour.

Baking tips: