Bee Sting Cake
An almond & honey-topped brioche filled with pastry cream.
Hi Bakers!
I am excited to share this Bee Sting Cake with you this week. I first made it years ago, trying to connect with my German roots, but never solidified the recipe until now. You know how much I love cake, but swapping cloying frosting for pastry cream and a yeasted dough instead of batter is a welcomed change. I recommend pairing a hefty slice with a warm coffee in the spring sunshine - pure bliss!
This classic German pastry is make from an enriched, buttery sweet bread. It is topped with caramelized, honeyed almonds and filled with lightened pastry cream that feels like eating a scrumptious cake. Of course it is a cake, but not the multi-layered or frosted variety I typically share here.
To my understanding, Bee Sting cake, or Bienenstich, is part of the every day German cake culture. Kaffeezeit, or coffee time, is an honored tradition taken between 2-4pm. Along with Streuselkuchen (crumb cake), Gugelhupf, and plum cake, these not-so-sweet, bread-like and lighter cakes are easier to accompany your afternoon coffee and social catch-up than a 4-layer Red Velvet or other sugar crash-inducing treats.
What makes this yeasted bread particularly alluring is the crunchy topping. A name like “Bee Sting” conjures cravings of honey and this cake doesn’t disappoint. A mixture of honey and butter melts together before being folded with sliced almonds. It is then spread over the top of the yeasted bread before baking, resulting in a crackly, caramelized finish. I add a sprinkle of flaky salt to balance it all out.
You’ll need to make the pastry cream in advance so that it has proper time to cool and thicken. To double-down on the honey, you could use it to make a honey pastry cream before lightening it up a little with whipped cream.
Or skip the filling altogether! In my recipe testing, I thoroughly enjoyed the unfilled brioche just as much - torn apart straight from the oven, warm and sticky between my fingers.
Tips and Tricks:
The crisp topping can be tricky to cut. I recommend pre-slicing the top layer before assembling. This will keep the filling from squishing out everywhere when you slice and serve.
Like most enriched doughs, Bee Sting is best served the same day as it is made. The assembled cake will need to be refrigerated, thus drying out the cake quicker than we’d like.
The dough is full of butter and may not completely double in size. However, it has a good amount of yeast so don’t let it over-proof.
How do you know? Dip a finger or knuckle into flour and poke the dough. If the indentation springs back slowly, it is proofed and ready to be shaped. If the indentation stays in the dough, it is over-proofed. If it fills back in quickly, then it needs more time.
I call for bread flour to provide a stronger structure for the cake, but regular all-purpose is a fine substitute.
