By Years ago when I moved to Germany as an exchange student, I was introduced to Bienenstich (‘Bee Sting’) by one of my friends. Thus began a food romance that has lasted for decades. If you can believe it, Bienenstich has its own wikipedia page! I’m having some friends for tea and decided it was time for me to attempt this afternoon delight. Sadly my German cookbooks did not have a recipe, so I resorted to google. I am taking guidance and suggestions from four recipes to create my own. I don’t understand why recipes seem to be made harder than they need to be. You can call this version ‘Bienenstich for dummies’. I’m trying to simplify (and work with the ingredients in my pantry). That was advice from a New Orleans chef during a cooking school. I had asked what butter (salted or unsalted) should I use. He quickly replied, ‘whatever is in your kitchen!’. I loved that idea.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- ¾ cup lukewarm milk
- 3 tablespoons butter
Topping
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 129g sliced almonds
Filling
I tried this one – https://scientificallysweet.com/vanilla-pastry-cream-creme-patissiere/
I wish I’d tried this one – https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pastry-cream-creme-patissiere-recipe
Steps
I had slightly expired active yeast…so the first thing I did was proof the yeast to make sure it was useable. What does that mean? I’m glad you asked! It means I mixed the yeast, the sugar and the warm milk together and gave it 10-15 minutes to either bubble up (prove that it is alive) or admit defeat. The yeast survived that first hurdle so I threw in the salt and 1 1/2 cups flour. I mixed with a wooden spoon until it looked like a dough, then threw it onto a my floured kitchen countertop to knead for about 10 minutes. I rounded into a dough ball, placed it into a greased bowl, covered in saran wrap and placed outside to proof (it was a warm day). The goal is to be doubled in size, which took about an hour
Once it is doubled in size, punched down the dough. Roll out in the shape of a square (to match the pan). I spread into a greased 8-inch square baking pan. Now…most recipes have you place in a round pan, but I had already sprayed my pan, so I was committed. One more rise to go – this time 30 – 45 minutes.
The topping is basically candied almonds. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, dump all ingredients in EXCEPT FOR the almonds. Get the concoction going – I boiled for about 4 minutes (until it reached a golden color). I turned off the heat and stirred my almonds in. The amount of almonds is up to the baker…I used 1 1/2 cups of sliced almonds, but if I make this again, I’ll drop that to only 1 cup.
Preheat your oven to 400° F. Cook for 20 minutes. Several recipes had a lower temp (350° F), which I think I’ll do next time, as my almonds got a little crispy.
Now it is time for the cake to cool while I contemplate the filling!
The filling is a challenge because there are so many opinions on what goes in that middle layer – some recipes made it more of a pudding, others a custard others were more like a whipped cream concoction. At this point, I’ve mixed and matched so many recipes, I was almost dizzy. I listed links to two recipes for the filling. If I try again and have better results, I’ll update with actual ingredients and steps. I have an old copy of Julia Child’s cookbook for creme patisserie. I really want to use that instead.
The shorter version of the recipe is – bake your favorite sweetened yeast bread, but with candied almonds on top. Then fill with either creme patisserie, custard or even a slightly sweetened whipped cream.
I’m posting pics now. I’ll update with feedback from my guests.
