Bienenstich
The name means "bee sting", and the legend involves a baker stung while making it — what is certainly true is the honey in the caramel. The construction is simple but has one critical moment: the cake is split horizontally only once completely cold. Warm, it tears under the knife, because the caramel on top is still soft and sticky.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Yeast dough 20 min
- Rising 90 min
- Almond caramel 15 min
- Baking 30 min
- Cooling cake and custard 60 min
- Cream filling 25 min
- Chilling 60 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneKnead a soft yeast dough
Mix the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt, add the warm milk, egg and butter and knead for 10 minutes. The dough is lightly enriched, so it rises more slowly than a plain roll — do not try to hurry it with heat above 30°C.
Ingredients: 400 g strong white flour · 180 ml milk · 7 g dried yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter · 1 pcs egg · 5 g salt
Rise 90 minutes and press into the tin
Leave until doubled, then press out in a lined 24×34 cm tin. Push it into the corners with your fingers and leave for 20 minutes so it relaxes before the caramel goes on.
Ingredients: 400 g strong white flour · 180 ml milk · 7 g dried yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter · 1 pcs egg · 5 g salt
Boil the almond caramel
Bring the butter, sugar, honey and cream to a boil and cook for 3 minutes, until slightly thickened and darkened. Off the heat, stir in the flaked almonds. Cool to lukewarm, about 10 minutes — hot, runny caramel soaks into the risen dough and weighs it down, while lukewarm, thicker caramel spreads in an even layer.
Ingredients: 100 g butter · 100 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 60 ml whipping cream (30%) · 200 g flaked almonds
Cool it to lukewarm before it meets the dough.Spread the caramel right to the edges
Heat the oven to 180°C. Spread the lukewarm caramel over the whole surface, reaching the edges. Corners left bare dry out hard during baking — the caramel is the only layer protecting the dough from drying.
Ingredients: 100 g butter · 100 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 60 ml whipping cream (30%) · 200 g flaked almonds
Right to the edges — bare corners dry out.Bake 30 minutes at 180°C
Bake for 30 minutes, until the almonds are golden brown and the cake has risen and pulled away from the sides. The almonds darken fast in the last five minutes — watch, and cover with foil if needed.
Ingredients: 100 g butter · 100 g sugar · 2 tbsp honey · 60 ml whipping cream (30%) · 200 g flaked almonds
Cook the filling and whip it with butter
While the cake cools, bring the milk to the boil with the split vanilla pod. Whisk the yolks with the sugar and cornflour, pour in some of the hot milk, tip everything back into the pan and cook, stirring, until the custard thickens and bubbles. Transfer to a shallow dish, press film onto the surface and cool it completely. Then beat the custard with the soft butter — custard and butter must be at the same room temperature, or the mixture splits. Finally whip the cold cream to stiff peaks and fold it in with a spatula.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 4 pcs egg yolks · 90 g sugar · 45 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 100 g butter · 200 ml whipping cream (30%)
Split only when cold
Cool the cake completely, then split it horizontally with a long serrated knife, using a sawing motion. A warm cake tears, because the caramel is still soft and glues the layers. Score around the sides first, then cut inwards.
Ingredients: 400 g strong white flour · 180 ml milk · 7 g dried yeast · 50 g sugar · 60 g butter · 1 pcs egg · 5 g salt
Serrated knife, sawing motion, cake fully cold.Fill and pre-cut the almond top
Spread the filling over the base in an even, thick layer and replace the almond top. Cut the top layer into portions before laying it on — trying to cut a finished cake through hard caramel squeezes the filling out of the sides. Chill for an hour.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 4 pcs egg yolks · 90 g sugar · 45 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 100 g butter · 200 ml whipping cream (30%)
Before you start
A filling without butter
Whipped cream folded into pastry cream alone gives a lighter but less stable version, good only on the day. The butter is what lets the cake survive two days without slumping.
Almonds and other nuts
Flaked almonds are classic, but chopped hazelnuts work just as well. Do not use ground nuts — you need a distinct crunch, not a layer of paste.
Keeping it in the fridge
The filled cake keeps two days refrigerated, but take it out half an hour before serving. Cold butter in the filling is firm, and the caramel on top is firmer still.
