German "Bee Sting Cake" (Bienenstich Kuchen)
- thetickledkitchen
- May 8, 2019
- 4 min read
This right here, ladies and gentleman, is the cake of your dreams. Seriously, if I can find someone to make this as my wedding cake, I will. It's that amazing!
What you'll love about this dessert
It's perfectly sweet (think of the flavor like baklava meets creme brûlée)
Light and airy texture (Brioche for the win!)
The sweet, caramel-like top balances out the delicate taste of the bread perfectly
From what I've learned, German desserts aren't ever sickly sweet, which makes sense when you realize the "cake" part of this dessert is actually just a giant loaf of Brioche bread sliced in half.
But oh ho ho, not just any Brioche -- this one has a mixture of honey, butter, and almonds on top. *swoon*
Most of the recipes I share with you deliver gourmet flavor, with a simple and straightforward process. However, this is one of the more involved desserts I've possibly ever made (simply because of how long the dough has to rest for before baking).
It is SO worth it, but definitely not something you can whip up just before company arrives.
The only difficult part of this dessert is making sure you have enough time to make the Brioche dough; I've heard you can make the dough the day before, but I have yet to try.
I am, however, definitely going to make this brioche dough into rolls one Sunday afternoon for a nice roast dinner. It'll be heavenly, I already know.
For the dough: (slightly adjusted version of this recipe by Ask Chef Dennis)
(Side note: I like to make the dough, first, and make the filling while it rests)
¼ cup whole milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (NOT the same as Rapid Rise, or Instant Yeast)
2 large eggs lightly beaten
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (plus 2 tablespoons set aside)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
In a small saucepan, combine milk and 1 tablespoon honey and heat until it registers between 110 degrees F to 115 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over. Gently swirl the bowl around to wet the yeast. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, until yeast is creamy/foamy.
To the large bowl with the yeast mixture, stir in eggs, one at a time, 3/4 cup of the flour, sugar, and salt, until well blended.
Gradually add in 1 cup of the remaining flour, and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 5-10 minutes). If the dough seems too sticky, add the remaining 2 Tablespoons of flour.*
Add the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time until blended in to the dough (I prefer using my hands to fold it in -- it's a messy job, but the spoon gets in the way) Then transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface and knead by hand until the dough is much smoother, and elastic, adding more flour as needed.*
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a buttered, large bowl; cover with cling film, and let the dough rest in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours till the dough has doubled in volume (I use the proofing feature on my oven, which makes the process SO much faster, and maintains a temperature around 90 degrees Fahrenheit).
After the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down to deflate it and knead a few more times. Return to the bowl, cover with cling film, and place back in the warm spot/proofing oven for about 2 more hours, to double in volume again.
Then, shape the dough into a ball and place in the center of a well-buttered and parchment lined 9" spring-form pan. Gently spread and flatten the dough with your palm till it covers the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan with cling film, and let rise until puffy for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
*Ideally at this point, the dough shouldn't be sticking to the bowl before proceeding; however, I've had it turn out both ways, where I'll even be done adding the butter (in the next step) and it still seems too sticky. Not to worry - kneading the dough after all the ingredients are incorporated will fix everything, and help you get a smooth, elastic dough!
*I find that I can tell the gluten in the dough has developed properly when I slightly pull at the dough and it shrinks back fairly quickly.
Now for the Honey-Almond topping:
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup honeypinch of salt
¾ cup sliced almonds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 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. Gently pour over the dough and place the pan on a parchment (or foil) covered baking sheet.
Position a rack in center of oven and bake for about 23 minutes until golden brown and bubbly on top.
Place on a cooling rack, and allow to cool four 10 minutes. Remove from the Springform Pan and allow to cool completely, before cutting and filling.
Lastly for the Vanilla Cream Filling: (from Desi Fiesta)
(basically the cheat way to make traditional pastry cream)
250 ml milk 3 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp vanilla flavored custard powder 200 ml cream 1 tbsp corn-starch
Remove 1/4 cup of milk, and put the remaining milk and the sugar in a saucepan, over medium heat and bring to a boil, while stirring frequently. Just before the milk starts to boil, mix together the custard powder in the 1/4 cup of milk.
Gradually add the custard mixture into the boiling milk, whisking continuously and quickly so there are no lumps.
Transfer the pudding to a small bowl and let cool in the fridge.
Meanwhile, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then add the cornstarch. Whip until it forms stiff peaks.
Fold the whipped cream into the cooled pudding mixture, and it's ready to fill!
Once the cake has completely cooled, cut in halve with a serrated knife, and top the bottom half with the filling (I never use all of it, but it certainly doesn't go to waste!), and place the top of the cake back on top. Slice, and enjoy your labor of love!!
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