Have you ever heard of a Bee Sting Cake?
According to Wikipedia: “this traditional Bavarian dessert may have earned its name from its honey topping: according to one legend, a bee was attracted to it, and the baker who invented the cake was stung. Another source cites a legend of German bakers from the 15th century who lobbed beehives at raiders from a neighboring village, successfully repelling them, and celebrated later by baking a version of this cake named after their efforts.”
Hence the name Bienenstich, which translates to Bee Sting.
But whatever you decide to call this cake, I can promise you your friends and family will be calling it delicious and asking for seconds!
The cake isn’t quite like any American cake you may have had. It has more of a pastry texture, filled with pastry cream, and is topped with honey-glazed almonds.
Pastry cream might sound daunting, but it really isn’t difficult to make.
Ingredients
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make a Bee Sting Cake. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the up cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Honey-Almond Topping
For the topping, you’ll need sliced almonds, butter, honey, sugar and a pinch of salt.
How to Make Bee Sting Cake
Follow along with my easy directions so you can see how to make bee sting cake at home.
The first step is making the pastry cream for the cake.
In a saucepan bring the milk just to boiling (just until milk starts to foam up.) Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture (tempering), whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Then, pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly.
When it boils, whisk the mixture constantly for another 30 – 60 seconds until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur (if using). Stir in vanilla bean extract or extract) Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming.
Cool to room temperature. If not using right away, refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Whisk or stir before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.
Next is the pastry dough for the cake.
The brioche dough isn’t too complicated to make and is what makes the Bee Sting Cake so special.
If you have a stand mixer, it’s really easy to do, but you can mix this by hand because the dough isn’t as thick as bread dough.
Warm the whole milk and honey to 110 degrees F. (any hotter will kill the yeast). Add the active dry yeast to the mixture and wait 10 minutes. The mixture will become foamy and is ready to make the dough.
To the yeast mixture, add two room-temperature eggs, granulated sugar, salt, and the mixture of all-purpose flour and bread flour, combining until just blended. Then add one stick(4 ounces) of softened butter until just blended. The dough will be very soft.
Place the dough into a buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to double in volume (it should take about 2 hours). Gently press the dough down and knead a few times (with floured hands). Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours.
**If the dough appears too wet, add 2-3 tablespoons of bread flour to the mixture. Some of the issues seem to be with the metric equivalents.
When the dough is ready, place the dough into a 9” buttered springform pan. Shape into a ball, and gently, press the dough to fit the pan.
Cover and allow the dough to rise in a warm environment for about an hour. Start making the honey almond topping
Preheat the oven to 350, when the dough has risen.
Combine the unsalted butter, sugar, honey, and salt in a small pan.
Bring the mixture to a gentle boil on the stovetop, then remove from the heat. Add the sliced almonds and pour the mixture over the dough.
Place the pan on a parchment-covered baking sheet (the honey mixture will seep through the bottom) and bake for 22-25 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Place the finished cake on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the cake from the pan.
The aroma of the cake is intoxicating, and there is a beautiful sticky caramelization on top and all around the cake. You’ll be tempted to cut into the cake, but it’s important to let the cake cool completely.
After the cake has fully cooled, carefully slice the cake in half with a serrated knife. Spread the pastry cream on top of the bottom half, covering it with the top half of the cake. Now it’s ready to serve.
Like most European cakes, the Bee Sting Cake is not very sweet. The pastry texture of the cake goes well with the mildly sweet pastry cream. But the honey almond topping is what takes this cake to the next level. The butter in the topping gives a delicate richness that perfectly finishes this Bavarian classic.
*Make sure to use a sharp knife to slice the cake.
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Bee Sting Cake
Ingredients
Pastry Cream
- 1¼ cups milk whole or 2%
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 3 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ tablespoon liqueur (Grand Marnier Brandy, Kirsch or Amaretto) (optional)
Brioche dough:
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons bread flour divided
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
Honey-Almond Topping:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- pinch of salt
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
Pastry Cream:
- In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together. (Don’t let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan bring the milk to a light boil(just until milk starts to foam up.)
- Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.)
- Pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 – 60 seconds until it becomes thick.
- Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur (if using). Stir in vanilla extract.
- Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool to room temperature. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Whisk or stir before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.
Brioche dough:
- In a small saucepan (or a small cup if you want to use the microwave), combine milk and 1 tablespoon honey and heat until it registers between 110 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer and sprinkle over yeast. Let mixture stand for 10 minutes until yeast is creamy/foamy.
- Transfer bowl to mixer stand and attach paddle (or hook) attachment. While mixing at low speed, gradually add eggs, all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt, and mix until blended.
- Gradually add all but 2 tablespoons of bread flour. Mix at medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. The dough should not stick to sides of bowl; if it does, add some of all of the remaining 2 tablespoons of bread flour until dough cleans sides of the bowl.
- Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing at medium speed until it is blended into the dough. (Dough will be very soft.) Transfer dough to a work surface and knead by hand a few times to ensure that butter is completely incorporated into the dough. Shape dough into a ball and transfer it to a medium buttered bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 1 ½ to 2 hours, until it has doubled in volume.**If the dough appears too wet add 2-3 tablespoons of bread flour to the mixture. Some of the issues seem to be with the metric equivalents.
- Punch dough down to deflate it, and knead it a few times. Return dough to the bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or up to 12 hours). The dough should have doubled in volume. If it hasn't, let it stand at room temperature until it has. (NOTE: I made the dough the night before.)
- Butter bottom and sides of a 9” spring-form pan. Shape dough into a ball and arrange it, smooth side up, in center of the pan. Flatten ball gently with your palm until it covers the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan and let the dough rise until it is puffed, about 1 hour.
Honey-Almond Topping:
- Combine the butter, sugar, honey, and salt, and bring to a gentle boil on the stovetop.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the almonds. Evenly pour over the dough and place the pan on a parchment (or foil) covered baking sheet.
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F for about 22-25 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.
- Place on a cooling rack, and allow to cool four 10 minutes. Remove from the Springform Pan and allow it to cool completely.
Assembly:
- Using a serrated knife, cut the cake in half. I place the cake on a rotating cake stand and being by rotating the cake and creating a cut line midway through the cake. Continue rotating, allowing the knife to cut deeper until the cake is completely sliced in half.
- Spread the pastry cream, leaving a narrow edge. Gently replace the top layer of the cake. Serve with coffee or tea.
Melissa C
Looks delicious! How would I substitute for instant yeast?
TC
I just made this. I used an 8 inch cake pan lined with parchment, bottom and sides after sprayed/floured. Cake was perfectly cooked at 25 min for me and the custard set up perfect. I did make a day ahead both as the dough needs to hold over the night before in the fridge. Wish I could post a pic. Tasty.
Shery
I didn’t understand if you sprayed and floured your pan before the parchment or after you added it.
Chef Dennis Littley
Butter the pan, no flour. The parchment goes on the baking sheet under the pan
Glenda
Hi Dennis, l haven’t attempted a cake in a long time and l am unsure as your cooking time says 2 hours but following the recipe it says 20-25 minutes. Is that correct? Regards Glenda
Chef Dennis Littley
thanks for letting me know Glenda, I’ve corrected the overall times
Rebecca
Thank you for this fabulous recipe! I’ve made the recipe twice and it has gotten rave reviews!
Maureen
When you measure the flour are you just scooping and leveling off or is it packed in? I normally weigh my stuff and for this recipe I used 210 grams (i.e. 1 and 3/4 cups) but I think it wasn’t nearly enough. The dough was too soft, impossible to work with and didn’t really rise at all. I checked my leftover yeast and it wasn’t dead so I really think it was the flour. I really want your recipe to work for me…should I try again but scooping the flour? Thanks!
Chef Dennis Littley
flour is never measured packed in, its always the scoop and level method.
Many have made this successfully so it can’t be the amount of flour in the recipe.
Jane Blair
I had never heard of a Bee Sting cake before stumbling onto this recipe while looking for German deserts. What a find this was!! This cake is amazing. I always make deserts for our huge family dinners and opted to make apple strudel as well. The cake was enormous hit, getting the highest praises by all.
This recipe will be a regular, even though it is so time consuming. I made the brioche dough the day before and did the final rise the next day. I also made the custard the day before as well. Too many times I have made a custard desert the same day it was to be served, only to find I didn’t have quite enough time. As it was, I was still running out the door with a piping hot pan of strudel, but my cake was perfectly prepared, and ready to be the star of the show!
Ann O
We have had German meals each Sunday for the past four weeks to celebrate Oktoberfest. At the suggestion of a friend who had lived in Germany for two years, I decided to make a Bee Sting Cake. I searched the available recipes and decided on this one and I am glad that I did. It was a huge hit! In fact, it was everyone’s favorite recipe over the entire four weeks. I’ve added it to our family cookbook and to my list of favorite recipes for 2020. Thank you!!
Kaille
Hi, I have been dying to make this. I am in the process of adding the butter to the dough, but it is not blending in, rather just smearing around the outside of the dough, which seems pretty tough and resistant to accepting any of the butter.
I followed the directions exactly. How long should it take, or have I done something wrong?
Thanks so much!
Nat
This happened to me too! I just smooshed it all together with my hands in the bowl until the butter was partly worked in and then let the dough hook have another blast. I also had to add half a tablespoon more flour. It worked fine in the end 🙂
Maria T
I have been making this for years from the German Bee Sting boxed mix available at gourmet groceries and with all the time and effort involved in even a boxed mix (you still have to add a lot of fresh ingredients so you don’t get a free pass on this one), I have always wanted to attempt this from scratch. Yet intimidation and a skeptical critical eye kept me searching a long time for a recipe that was full of rich natural ingredients that stayed true to the original German tradition (necessary), while being as simple as it could be to obtain the desired result (sufficient). This was a perfect balance of time (it is time consuming but you can break it up into manageable practical steps) where if I started a day, or two, before, it was a perfect use of my less than busiest times of the day as well as low traffic times in the kitchen. I started after dinner on the filling and stored in fridge. Then started the dough and placed in my barely warm oven (just slightly warmer than my air conditioned kitchen) and let the 2 hours go by while my evening activity resumed. Then just prior to bed I kneaded the dough again and popped in the fridge with the filling. Perfect. Next morning, up an hour early, I was able to pull out my components and resume along with the topping (while my dough was finishing up its last round in my springform), get in the oven, etc, and in about the same time as it took me with the mix, I had a beautiful delicious Bee Sting all my own. This turned out so lovely I almost wanted to hide it and make something else for my guests. But sharing it made it even more delightful. This was just a perfect balance of rich honey almond and buttery delight. Perfect for breakfast or dessert and so much nicer than the super sweet heavy alternatives. Thank you Chef Dennis! I can’t wait to try more recipes.
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment Maria, you truly made my day!
Dafne Parra
Hello, do we leave the cake out or do we put it in the fridge?
Chef Dennis Littley
I would refrigerate when not being served. I would also let it come to room temperature before serving
sheila j soper
MY OH MY! just have to make this.!!!!!!!!!looks like heaven in the mouth to me….thank you.
Shyama Jeyanathan
I live in Sri Lanka and a friend who had been to Germany remembered eating this cake as a child and wanted me to bake her one. It came out perfectly. She was delighted with the cake.
Michael Pennett
I am really excited to make this recipe work. But I had some baking questions, as I am new to custards and brioche
After cooling the custard in the fridge, it came out fairly “flan like”. I tried mixing it in a mixer with some milk but it’s still fairly chunky. Is there an ingredient reason why it was more a solid ‘flan’ then a mushy custard?
After rising the cake in the spring-pan, it did not seem to rise very much, and the baked cake is fairly short (1 inch?). Was this a yeast problem?
Thank you anyone for the help. Like I said, I am very excited to make this recipe work. The “prototype” tastes amazing!!
Max
Thank you Chef Dennis. I must say I am not a baker, but following your directions was perfect. This recipe was amazing. My cake turned out exactly like yours and from the looks of it, it probably tasted the same. My family and I enjoyed it so much, it will be one of our top cakes to make in the future. Thank you for this recipe. I recommend anyone even a newbie to try this recipe. It is simple, but just remember it does take a lot of time. But in the end, it is totally worth it and it looks extremely professional, like you bought it from a restaurant or bakery.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m very happy to hear that the cake turned out well for you Max! I hope you’re inspired to try more of my recipes
Anslee Victoria
I just wanted to let you know that this made my day! I’ve been wanting to make this recipe, but never quite had time. With this quarantine, I decided to give it a shot. Just wonderful. The perfect dessert or breakfast. I bake a good amount, and I think this is my favorite thing I’ve ever made. Used regular AP flour and cashews instead of almonds. Just delicious. Thanks again.
Theresa Petroski
I have whole almonds. Can I use chopped almonds instead of slivered?
Toni H
Possibly a dumb question. Are you preheating the oven and then baking, or starting with a cold oven? The wording is a tad confusing
Chef Dennis Littley
preheating is always the way to go, unless otherwise stated. Thanks for asking
Mel
Going to have to try this recipe.. Had to laugh when I came across a typo “Bee Stink Cake” 🤣
Chef Dennis Littley
thanks for pointing that out. Spell correct only catches the misspell if it’s not a word.
Cookermama in Az
I did Everything wrong and it still turned out great! First of all, I wasn’t able to start the dough the night before; then found I only had all-purpose flour (forgot to add the bread flour to my shopping list!); had to start the dough late on the day of a party at which it was to be served. The first rising went fine, but didn’t have time to let it chill out in the fridge, so had to do the second rising on the countertop where it was cool but certainly not cold and the third rising, per recipe…except the dough was already at room temp (about 73 degrees!) I was in such a rush that I forgot the sugar, honey butter mixture on the stove so boiled a little too long and when I added the almonds, it had thickened up substantially…added a tad more butter and it did fine. Poured it on the oven-ready dough and some fell through a large bubble in the dough. However, it baked perfectly and everyone loved it!!! I will absolutely make this again…with more time and all the right ingredients! I made this for a German Feast pogressive dinner and all 10 guests were quite suitably impressed! By the way, I’m not a novice baker, so I have no excuses for all the mistakes except too rushed and not allowing myself more time.