I nearly went mad when a friend mentioned her Bee Sting Cake over dinner the other night. Talk of the German cake (bienenstich - bee sting, get it?) stuffed with vanilla pudding cream and topped with honey buttery almond goo sounded so staggeringly delicious I had to try and make it myself. Since a blizzard was upon us and I wasn’t going anywhere, I shut off my phone, put on these Bach fugues and set to work. Without further preamble, let’s begin!
Bee Sting Cake is a stunner for sure, and not terribly difficult to achieve. I think the biggest challenge was trying to slice the thin cake evenly in half. You definitely want a good 10” serrated knife and patience. If you have problems cutting the cake evenly, remember the bottom layer will be covered with filling and the top is camouflaged by all the honey buttery almond goo. I managed to keep the cake intact, but if any of it falls apart in the process, just cut and paste, and your guests will be little the wiser—too busy ooh-ing and aah-ing with their eyes closed to notice anyway!
Organization was key, at least for me. I think it’s a good idea to put out your bowls, pans, and measured ingredients ahead of time (maybe keep the milk and heavy cream in the fridge until needed), so you’re not rushing wild to find that darn palette knife, that roll of parchment somewhere, etc.
Place the items you’ll need in three separate groups for the three stages of the recipe: the making of the cake, the topping, and the filling. There is some downtime between the stages, so if you’re feeling reckless you can sort through your cookware and ingredients then.
My comments below are in italics. And note the little bee ornament I perched on top of a slice!
German Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)Adapted from
internationaldessertsblog.comYield: 9 slices
IngredientsCake1 1/2 (additional 1/4 cup, if needed) all-purpose flour
2 TB [30g] sugar
2 tsp [1/4 oz / 7g] fast rising yeast (
a.k.a. one packet)
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1/4 cup [57g] melted butter
1/3 cup [75ml] milk
Topping
1/2 cup [113g] butter
1 TB honey
5-6 TB sugar (see note below)
1 1/2 TB heavy whipping cream
1 TB vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract (go with vanilla extract)
3/4 cup [80g] sliced almonds
Filling
2 cups [400ml] heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp vanilla pudding powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract (go with the vanilla extract)
Pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Mix flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add melted butter, egg, and milk. Mix with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour until it no longer sticks to your fingers.
2. Knead dough 5-7 times in the bowl until it looks and feels smooth.
3. Cover dough with a towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4. Pre-heat oven to 350F/176C.
5. To make the honey almond topping, melt butter, honey, sugar, and vanilla sugar in a saucepan over medium low heat. Once the butter has melted, add the cream and then mix until the sugar is dissolved.
6. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in sliced almonds (and vanilla extract if you’re using this instead of vanilla sugar). Keep the topping warm until you're ready to use it.
7. Place a sheet of parchment paper in an 8x8 inch (20x20 cm) baking pan so the edges hang over the sides. Press dough into the pan and then prick dough several times with a fork.
8. Pour the topping onto the dough and spread evenly. Bake for about 30 minutes (check at 25 minutes and then bake 5-7 minutes longer as needed). The topping will be golden brown when done.
9. Let the cake cool in the cake pan for a few minutes. Grab the sides of the parchment paper and transfer the cake to a wire rack. Let the cake cool for 10-20 minutes.
10. When you can comfortably touch the cake with your fingers, use a long serrated knife to cut the cake lengthwise in two thin layers.
11. Transfer the top layer to a cutting board and use the same serrated knife to cut the top layer (the one with the topping) into nine pieces. It’s MUCH easier to cut this top layer when the cake is still a warm rather than waiting to cut it when you're ready to serve it (if you wait until after the cake has chilled, you’re likely to squish the filling out the sides when you cut it). Let the bottom and top layer pieces cool.
12. While the cake cools, prepare the filling. Pour the heavy cream into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the pudding powder and vanilla sugar (or extract) and first beat to soft peaks. (When the filling beats to peaks that sink back down.) Taste the filling and, if desired, add more pudding powder or vanilla. (Stir, don’t beat, any added powder or vanilla in, so as not to beat the filling too much.)
13. Place the bottom cake layer on a plate. Spread the filling on the bottom cake layer using a palette knife. Then carefully place the nine top layer pieces on the cream filling, piece by piece. Cover or wrap cake in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour or until the filling is set.
14. When you’re ready to serve the cake, let it warm up for a few minutes before slicing and serving. Be careful not to not press down too hard on the top layer when cutting the bottom layer because the filling will spill out.
15. This cake is best eaten the day you make it. (I thought it was pretty tasty the next day too.)
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