Bienenstich, also known as German Bee Sting Cake is a classic German cake. A honey almond-crusted cake top, filled with delicious authentic German Vanilla pudding cream.
This Bee Sting dessert is bound to be a showstopper piece on your coffee table. The cake looks impressive, but it is surprisingly easy to make. This recipe does not use yeast, which cuts down on the preparation time.
What is German Bee Sting Cake?
Bee Sting Cake is a traditional German sheet cake. A classic yeast cake decorated with a honey caramelized almond glaze. The cake is filled either with German buttercream or German pudding cream (pastry cream).
Bee Sting in German literally translates as "Bienenstich". In English, this cake is also sometimes referred to as "Beehive Cake".
How to pronounce Bienenstich?
As an English speaker, you would pronounce Bienenstich as "BEE-NEN-STEA-CH"
History
The origin of how Bee Sting Cake came about is unclear.
According to a baker legend, the was a rift between two towns in Rhineland-Palatinate in the 15th century. Ansbach and Linz am Rhein. One morning, two Ansbach baker apprentices were treating themselves to some honey from the beehives that hang from the city walls. From there they saw some raiders from the neighbouring city approaching and throwing the beehives at them. The Raiders from Linz and Rhein were stung by the bees and had to flee.
The apprentices, instead of being scolded for stealing honey, were celebrated. To honour them a cake was invented the "Bienenstich Kuchen".
In reality, this story will remain a legend and was probably invented a considerable time, after the cake made its debut.
In Germany, the first mention of "Bienenstich" was made in the 19th century. It is unlikely that the cake as we know it today with the cream filling was used in the 15h century. This is because cream cakes have to be cooled, and refrigeration was only invented in the 19th century. However, the almond honey glaze could have existed earlier. [Source: Wikipedia.de Bienenstich]
About my Bee Sting Cake Recipe
This is a variation of the traditional Bienenstich dessert recipe. Usually, it is baked in a sheet pan and the dough is made out of yeast.
This recipe uses a sponge cake base. This reduces the overall preparation time, as you do not have to wait for the dough to rise. I also decided to make it in a round cake form. In Germany, you would call this variation "Bienenstich Torte".
What will I need to make Bienenstich Cake?
Equipment
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(affiliate link)
Ingredients:
- milk
- eggs
- corn starch/ cornflour -
- vanilla extract (affiliate link)
- sugar
- turmeric powder (optional for colour)
- gelatine sheets (affiliate link) or powder (see here for vegetarian gelatin (affiliate link))
- whipping cream / or heavy cream. (at least 30% fat)
- flour -Germany type 405, UK Plain Flour, USA Pastry Flour
- baking powder (affiliate link)
- salt
- slivered almonds
- butter
- honey
How to make Bienenstich (-Step by Step)
Filling
- Pour the milk into a small saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil.
- While heating the milk, place the cornstarch and sugar in a bowl. Add the 2 tablespoons of milk and two egg yolks and whisk to combine to a smooth mass. Make sure to whisk the mixture thoroughly as you do not want to have any clumps. (if you want to achieve a nice yellow colour add a pinch of turmeric. This will not affect the taste, just the colour).
- Add the vanilla extract (affiliate link).
- Pour the cornflour mixture into the milk and quickly stir. Bring back to boil on medium heat while continually stirring. The milk should thicken to a rather thick pudding- we need this for stability. Remove the pudding from the heat.
- Dissolve the gelatine according to packet instructions and stir into the hot pudding.
- Pour into a bowl. To avoid skin building upon the pudding, place a sheet of clingfilm over it. Leave to cool in the fridge.
- In the meantime, whisk the cream with an electric stand or hand mixer with a whisk attachment until stiff. Place in the fridge to keep cool.
- Once the vanilla pudding has cooled whisk it quickly and then fold in the stiff cream.
Cake Base
- Preheat your oven to 160°C/ 320 °F.
- Using a stand or hand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar, and a pinch of salt until it begins to foam.
- Combine flour and baking powder (affiliate link) and sieve the flour mixture into the egg mixture.
- Grease the edges of your springform tin with butter and line the bottom with baking parchment. Pour in the cake batter. And place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Honey Almond Topping
- In the meantime prepare the crunchy almond topping. Place butter, honey and sugar into a saucepan and briefly bring to a boil. Now add in the sliced almonds and mix well.
- After the cake has been baking in the oven for 20 minutes remove it from the oven. Cover the top with the almond honey mixture by spreading it with two spoons. (Careful the mixture is very hot)! Work quickly, as you want to place the cake back into the oven to finish baking.
- After a further 15-20 minutes test if the cake is done by pricking a skewer in the middle. If it comes out clean it is done. The almonds on the top should have caramelised while baking.
- Once the cake comes out of the oven, run a thin knife along the edges to help release the cake. Leave the cake to cool down completely.
Assembling the cake
- Using a paring knife score the entire outside edge of the cake halfway up to the side. Now take a serrated knife and cut along the indention made with the paring knife.
- Carefully lift the top layer of the bottom layer.
- Place your cake mould ring (affiliate link) around the bottom layer. Fill the cake with your vanilla pudding cream.
- It is best to pre-slice the top layer before placing it on the filling. This is because the almond topping is very hard and the cream will be squashed out of the sides otherwise. Slice the top into 10 equal parts. Try not to slice all the way through, but just through the almond layer. This way you can place it in one piece on top of the cake again.
- Leave the cake to cool in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours before serving.
Recipe Variations
There are several different ways to prepare the recipe. Here are some common variations
- Make the cake in a sheet pan instead of a round cake pan.
- No fan of almonds? You can vary the nut topping by using Hazelnuts, Walnuts, or Pecans instead. Although the traditional German Bienenstich Cake will always use almonds.
Cake Filling Variations
Vary up the fillings. The classic filling is always the Vanilla Pudding Creme (also called Pastry Cream) but you can also try these variations:
- Use Angel Delight (Paradis Creme in German) the powder is so easy to mix up.
- Try using the vanilla pudding without the creme. Simply make the vanilla pudding as described in the recipe and omit adding the whipped cream.
- Use German Butter Cream instead. This is made from a mixture of butter and Vanilla pudding and is used in cakes such as Donauwelle. The consistency is a lot firmer than that of pastry cream.
- Mix up the pudding flavours. It does not always have to be vanilla. You can make the pudding with chocolate flavour by adding a teaspoon of cocoa.
Storage Instructions
Store your Bee Sting cake in the fridge. This ensures that the cream stays firm and the cake base airy. It should last in the fridge for about 3-4 days.
Can you freeze bee sting cake?
Yes, Bienenstich freezes well. Just divide it into portions and place it in an airtight container. Defrost in the fridge. In the freezer, the cake should keep up to three months.
More Traditional German Cakes
Recipe
Quick Bienenstich (German Bee Sting Cake without yeast)
Equipment
- 1 8 inch round cake form
- 1 round cake mould ring
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Pudding Creme Filling
- 500 ml milk 16.9 fl oz / 2 ⅛ cups whole milk (5% fat)-
- 2 egg yolks medium size
- 80 g corn starch/ corn flour 1.8 oz (the corn starch and vanilla extract can be replaced by two packs Dr Oetker Vanilla Pudding)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100 g sugar ½ cup
- 1 pinch turmeric powder optional for colour
- 4 sheets gelatine can be substituted with 1 teaspoon powdered gelatine
- 200 g whipping cream 1 cup
For the Cake Base
- 4 medium eggs
- 120 g sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla sugar can be substituted with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150 g flour 2.3 oz / 1.2 cups Germany type 405, UK Plain Flour, USA Pastry Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
For the honey almond topping
- 100 g slivered almonds 3.5 oz, 1 cup
- 50 g butter 1.8 oz/ 3.5 tablespoons
- 50 g sugar 1.8 oz/ ¼ cup
- 2 tablespoon honey
Instructions
Filling
- Pour the milk into a saucepan and slowly bring to a boil.
- While heating the milk, place the corn starch and sugar in a bowl. Add the 4 tablespoons of milk and two egg yolks and whisk to combine to a smooth mass. Make sure to whisk the mixture thoroughly as you do not want to have any clumps. (if you want to achieve a nice yellow color add a pinch of turmeric. This will not affect the taste, just the color).
- Add the vanilla extract.
- Pour the cornflour mixture into the milk and quickly stir. Bring back to boil while continually stirring. The milk should thicken to a rather thick pudding. Remove the pudding from the heat.
- Dissolve the gelatine according to packet instruction and stir into the hot pudding.
- Pour into a bowl. To avoid a skin building up on the pudding, place a sheet of clingfilm over it. Leave to cool in the fridge.
- In the meantime, whisk the cream with an electric mixer until stiff. Place in the fridge to keep cool.
- Once the vanilla pudding has cooled whisk it quickly and then fold in the stiff cream.
Cake Base
- Preheat your oven to 160°C/ 320 °F.
- Mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt until it begins to foam.
- Combine the flour and baking powder and sieve the flour mixture into the egg foam.
- Grease the edges of your cake base with butter and line the bottom with baking parchment. Pour in the cake batter. And place in the oven for 20 minutes.
Honey Almond Topping
- In the meantime prepare the almond topping. Place butter, honey and sugar into a saucepan and briefly bring to boil. Now add in the almonds and mix well.
- After the cake has been baking in the oven for 20 minutes remove it from the oven. Cover the top with the almond honey mixture by spreading it with two spoons. (Careful the mixture is very hot)! Work quickly, as you want to place the cake back into the oven to finish baking.
- After a further 15-20 minutes test if the cake is done by pricking a skewer in the middle. If it comes out clean it is done. The almonds on the top should have caramelised while baking.
- Once the cake comes out of the oven, run a thin knife along the edges to help release the cake. Leave the cake to cool down completely.
Assembling the cake
- Using a paring knife score the entire outside edge of the cake halfway up to the side. Now take a serrated knife and cut along the indention made with the paring knife.
- Carefully lift the top layer of the bottom layer.
- Place your cake mould ring around the bottom layer. Fill the cake with your vanilla pudding cream.
- It is best to pre-slice the top layer before placing it on the filling. This is because the almond topping is very hard and the cream will be squashed out of the sides otherwise. Slice the top into 10 equal parts. Try not to slice all the way through, but just through the almond layer. This way you can place it in once piece on top of the cake again.
- Leave the cake to cool in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours before serving.
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