Bee Sting Cake
While working on the classic Bee Sting Cake, it occurred to me that the almond-honey topping would be perfect for a Rosh Hashanah dessert, as honey plays a significant role in the holiday’s culinary theme. But how and where to use it? Given the extensive preparations for the first evening’s dinner, the dessert needed to be something simple to prepare.
Then came the second inspiration: the base cake from the famous New York Times Plum Torte, which is, by many, closely associated with Rosh Hashanah, might be just the thing. It’s very easy to make and subtly flavored, ensuring it doesn’t compete with the flavor of the almond-honey topping.
As I began to spread the topping over the batter during the first test bake, I realized the cake batter wasn’t firm enough to support the almond-honey mixture. To fix this, I placed the cake pan in the freezer for about twenty minutes until the batter was firm. However, during this time, the topping mixture started to cool and warming it up again only partially resolved the issue.
For the second test, I waited to prepare the topping until the cake had spent about half its time in the freezer. Spreading the topping over the firm batter was then a breeze. I baked it for just over twenty minutes, and voilà! A wonderful homage to a sweet year was born.
The cake is beautiful in its simplicity and can be served as is. Alternatively, it can be dressed up with a border of whipped cream and crème fraîche stars or rosettes. There is also a note at the end of the recipe on how to make this Bee Sting Cake non-dairy.
Bee Sting Cake
| Yield: 1 9” cake | # of Servings: 10 | Method: Creaming | Difficulty: Easy |
Ingredients
1 cup (4.65 oz / 131 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (.15 oz / 4 g) baking powder
⅛ tsp salt
½ cup (4 oz / 113 g) unsalted butter, room temp
¾ cup (5.4 oz / 52 g) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ tsp vanilla extract
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
Optional finishing:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup crème fraîche
- 2 tbl confectioners’ sugar, or to taste
Special tools and equipment needed:
- 9” springform pan
- 9” parchment circle
- Stand mixer with paddle or handheld mixer
- Small heavy bottomed saucepan
- Small offset spatula, optional
- Large disposable pastry bag and star tip
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Butter the bottom and sides of the pan. Place the parchment circle in the bottom and butter it as well.
- Bring butter and eggs to room temperature.
Instructions
Cake batter:
- In mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Set aside.
- In machine bowl on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until light.
- Beat eggs and vanilla extract together in measuring cup.
- Slowly add eggs to creamed butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Use plastic spatula to scrape bottom of bowl for final mix.
- Using offset spatula, spread the cake batter in the springform pan.
- Place in freezer for 20 minutes, until top feels very firm.
Make the topping: Preheat the oven to 350°F
- 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.
Baking:
- Spread the warm almond topping over the frozen batter, up to the edge.
- Bake until golden and cake tester comes out just clean, around 23 minutes. Do not overbake.
- Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for 20 minutes. Remove the outside of the springform. Slide onto a serving plate. The bottom of removable bottomed tart pan is very helpful for this.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Optional finishing:
- Place cream, crème fraîche, and sugar in a chilled bowl machine or mixing bowl.
- Whip to just stiff peaks. Pipe stars or rosettes around the edge.
- Serve the remaining cream along with the cake.
Notes:
- The cake may be made non-dairy by substituting a good quality plant milk “butter,” such as the Miyoko’s brand for the butter and a non-dairy creamer for the heavy cream. Skip the optional finishing.