Bee sting cake, or Bienenstich, is a German cake made from a soft, lightly sweet yeast dough, baked under a crunchy honey-almond topping, then split and filled with a thick layer of cool vanilla cream. It is a weekend baking project for a birthday, a coffee afternoon or a holiday dessert table.
How to make bee sting cake: Cook a vanilla pastry cream and chill it. Knead a yeast dough with eggs, honey and butter and let it rise twice. Spread a boiled honey-almond topping over the dough and bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely, split the cake, and fill it with the pastry cream folded with whipped cream.
Why You’ll Love It
- Three textures. Soft cake, cool cream and a crisp, caramelized almond top.
- Not too sweet. The dough has only a little sugar and honey, so the topping and the filling carry the sweetness.
- Made in stages. The pastry cream can chill while the dough rises.
- A real showpiece. One 9-inch cake cuts into 12 slices.
Ingredient Notes
Active dry yeast. Two and a quarter teaspoons, stirred into 1/4 cup of whole milk warmed to 115°F.
All-purpose flour. Two and a third cups for the dough.
Eggs and egg yolks. Two large eggs go into the dough. Three large yolks go into the pastry cream.
Honey. One tablespoon in the dough and 2 tablespoons in the topping.
Unsalted butter. A 1/4 cup, softened, for the dough, and 3 tablespoons for the topping.
Sliced almonds. Three-quarters of a cup.
Whole milk and cornstarch. One and a half cups of milk thickened with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch make the pastry cream.
Heavy cream. One tablespoon in the topping, and 1/2 cup whipped and folded into the filling.
Ingredients
For the pastry cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 egg yolks, large
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the dough
- 1/4 cup whole milk, warmed to 115°F
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 eggs, large
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
For the honey-almond topping
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 3/4 cup almonds, sliced
To finish the filling
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped and folded into the pastry cream
How to Make Bee Sting Cake
1. Make the pastry cream. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together. Whisk in the egg yolks until pale and smooth, about 1 minute. Bring the milk to a simmer, remove it from the heat, and slowly whisk it into the yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it begins to bubble, then cook 1 more minute. Stir in the vanilla, strain into a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate until cool.
2. Mix and knead the dough. Mix the yeast and warm milk in a stand mixer bowl. The yeast should begin to foam after a few minutes. Mix in the eggs, sugar, honey and salt, then add the flour. With the mixer running, add the softened butter a little at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic, approximately 6 minutes.
3. Let the dough rise. Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
4. Shape and rise again. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan at least 2 inches deep. Gently shape the dough into a circle that fits the pan. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
5. Make the topping. Combine the butter, honey, sugar and cream in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until light golden. Remove from the heat, stir in the sliced almonds, and let cool slightly. Heat the oven to 350°F.
6. Bake the cake. Spread the honey-almond topping evenly over the dough. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are golden and the topping is bubbling.
7. Cool and split. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes so the topping can firm up. Loosen the edges with a knife, remove the cake from the pan, and cool completely on a rack with the almonds facing up. Split the cake horizontally with a serrated knife.
8. Fill and assemble. Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth, about 1 minute, then gently fold in the whipped cream. Spread the filling over the bottom cake layer and replace the top layer, almond side up.
How to Slice Bee Sting Cake Without Squeezing Out the Cream
The top of this cake is firm and crunchy and the middle is soft cream. Press a knife down through the finished cake and the hard top pushes the filling out the sides. There is an easy way around it: cut the top before it goes on.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Split | Cut the cooled cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife |
| Fill | Spread all the cream filling over the bottom layer |
| Cut the lid | Slice the almond-topped layer into serving pieces while it sits flat on the board |
| Rebuild | Arrange the cut pieces back over the filling, almond side up |
| Serve | Cut down through the cream and bottom layer, following the lines already made |
This is an optional tip, not a change to the recipe. If you put the lid on whole, use a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion instead of pressing.
Tips for Success
How warm should the milk be for the yeast?
115°F. The yeast should start to foam after a few minutes in the warm milk.
How do I know the dough has risen enough?
After the first rise it has doubled in size, which takes about 1 hour in a warm place. The second rise, in the pan, is 30 minutes.
How do I know the topping is ready?
It boils for 2 to 3 minutes and turns light golden. Take it off the heat, stir in the almonds and let it cool slightly before spreading.
How do I know the cake is baked?
The edges are golden and the topping is bubbling, after 25 to 30 minutes.
Why cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap on the surface?
The recipe presses the wrap directly onto the cream before chilling it. Whisk the cold cream smooth again before folding in the whipped cream.
How Long Does It Take?
Plan on at least 200 minutes, and more to be safe. The recipe lists 60 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of baking, but the dough also rises for 1 hour and then 30 minutes, and the cake cools in the pan for 20 minutes before it cools completely on a rack. It will not be ready 90 minutes after you start.
If you like cream-filled desserts, you might enjoy Cannoncini, made with store-bought puff pastry and vanilla pastry cream.
Storage & Reheating
This cake is not reheated, and it is best eaten the day it is made. The filling is a cooked egg custard with cream, so the finished cake belongs in the refrigerator. USDA FSIS says to refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours. Keep it covered and cold until you serve it.
What to Serve With It
If you like the caramelized top, bake the homemade caramel cake next. For other filled or soaked cakes, there is the strawberry cream cheese icebox cake, the lemon poke cake with soaking syrup and the 5-ingredient slow cooker pineapple cream cake. For a fruit cake, try the lemon blueberry cake or Bea’s blueberry sheet cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I cut the almond topping without squeezing out the cream?
Cut the almond-topped layer into serving pieces before you place it over the filling.
What is Bienenstich?
The German name for bee sting cake: a yeast cake with vanilla cream filling and a honey-almond topping.
Why is it called bee sting cake?
I do not have a reliable answer for where the name comes from, so I will leave the stories out.
Does bee sting cake need to be refrigerated?
Yes. The cream filling is perishable. Refrigerate the cake within 2 hours.
Final Notes
I slice the almond lid into wedges on the board before it goes back on, because it saves the filling every time. If you make it, leave a comment to tell me how it turned out or ask a question.
Bee Sting Cake (Bienenstich)
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Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sugar for the pastry cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch for the pastry cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt for the pastry cream
- 3 egg yolks large; for the pastry cream
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk for the pastry cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for the pastry cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk warmed to 115°F; for the dough
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast for the dough
- 2 eggs large; for the dough
- 2 tablespoons sugar for the dough
- 1 tablespoon honey for the dough
- 1/4 teaspoon salt for the dough
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour for the dough
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened; for the dough
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter for the topping
- 2 tablespoons honey for the topping
- 2 tablespoons sugar for the topping
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream for the topping
- 3/4 cup almonds sliced; for the topping
- 1/2 cup heavy cream for folding into the pastry cream
Instructions
- Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together. Whisk in the egg yolks until pale and smooth, about 1 minute. Bring the milk to a simmer, remove it from the heat, and slowly whisk it into the yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it begins to bubble, then cook 1 more minute. Stir in the vanilla, strain into a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate until cool.
- Mix the yeast and warm milk in a stand mixer bowl. The yeast should begin to foam after a few minutes. Mix in the eggs, sugar, honey and salt, then add the flour. With the mixer running, add the softened butter a little at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic, approximately 6 minutes.
- Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan at least 2 inches deep. Gently shape the dough into a circle that fits the pan. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Combine the butter, honey, sugar and cream in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until light golden. Remove from the heat, stir in the sliced almonds, and let cool slightly. Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Spread the honey-almond topping evenly over the dough. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are golden and the topping is bubbling.
- Cool in the pan for 20 minutes so the topping can firm up. Loosen the edges with a knife, remove the cake from the pan, and cool completely on a rack with the almonds facing up. Split the cake horizontally with a serrated knife.
- Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth, about 1 minute, then gently fold in the whipped cream. Spread the filling over the bottom cake layer and replace the top layer, almond side up.
