Bee Sting Cake

Bee Sting Cake aka "Bienenstich" is a German cake made of brioche filled with a decadent pastry cream, and topped with caramelized honey and almonds. Made with our organic Standard AP flour, this is sure to create a not too sweet breakfast or dessert treat! 

Download a printable version of the recipe here.

Bee Sting Cake

Yield: 8-inch round cake

*This recipe contains nuts*

 Tools: 9-inch cake pan or springform pan

 Ingredients:

 Brioche:

300g BSM AP Standard flour

30g sugar

6g instant yeast

6g salt

90g whole milk (heated to 90°F)

3 large eggs (room temp)

113g unsalted butter (softened)

Topping:

60g unsalted butter

60g sugar

60g honey

3g fine sea salt

95g sliced raw almonds

Pastry Cream:

690g whole milk

100g sugar

48g cornstarch

1g fine sea salt

25g BSM AP Standard flour

4 large egg yolks (room temp)

70g unsalted butter

12g vanilla extract or bean paste 

Method:

Pastry Cream:

Prepare a large bowl with ice with another medium bowl sitting directly on top of the ice as this will be the ice bath once the pastry cream is ready to cool. Set the ice bath aside. If you have a fine mesh strainer, set this directly into the medium bowl over the ice bath.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, sea salt, flour, egg yolks, and a heavy splash of the measured milk. Whisk vigorously until the mixture becomes opaque and ribbon-like. In a medium sauce pot, heat the remaining milk until it just starts to simmer. Remove the milk from heat, and temper slowly into the egg mixture while simultaneously whisking. Be sure to pour a steady stream of the milk in while whisking vigorously to fully incorporate the mixture without curdling the eggs.

Place the mixture back into the sauce pot, and cook over medium-high heat while continuously whisking until the mixture begins to thicken. It is important to whisk vigorously the entire time until it thickens to prevent the mixture from curdling. Once the mixture begins to thicken to a thick pudding consistency, quickly remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Pour the pastry cream into the strainer so that it strains into the medium bowl sitting directly over the ice bath. Be sure to scrape all of the pastry cream into the bowl and off the sides of the bottom of the strainer. Whisk in the vanilla extract or bean paste. Whisk the pastry cream to continue to cool it down, then place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream to form a “skin”. This will prevent the pastry cream itself forming a skin on top. Chill the pastry cream in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight at best.

Brioche:

In a stand-up mixing bowl, combine the heated milk, sugar, and yeast then whisk to combine. Add the flour then the salt. Using the dough hook, begin to mix the dough on low-medium speed. Bump the speed to medium-high (about speed 4-6) and allow the dough to knead for 5 min. Once the dough is elastic, allow the dough to rest for 8 min in the stand-up mixing bowl. Add the butter a tbsp at a time while the dough is mixing on low speed. Be sure to scrape the butter from the sides of the bowl back into the dough in between mixing. Once all of the butter is added to the dough, increase the speed to medium-high and knead for an additional 4-min. The dough is ready if you can pull a decent windowpane test, which this ensures the gluten has properly developed. Place the dough into a greased bowl and tightly cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to proof for about 2-hrs or until doubled in size. Once the dough has doubled in size, flatten the dough out into a large 9-inch disc. Place the dough into a parchment-lined 9-inch deep cake pan or spring form pan. Wrap the pan with plastic wrap and allow to rise once more for 30-35 min. Poke the dough with a finger if the dough springs back, it needs more time. If your finger makes a dent in the dough, it has proofed sufficiently.

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Topping: While the dough is in its final proof, combine the topping fillings except for the sliced almonds. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the sliced almonds. Allow the mixture to slightly cool, but while it is still very warm, spread the mixture over the proofed dough so it coats the entire top.

Bake the brioche for 25-30 min or until it reaches 195°F and the top has turned a deep golden color due to caramelization.

Allow the brioche to cool completely before slicing in half horizontally as you would a layered cake. This is referred to as “torting”.

Pipe the pastry cream evenly onto the bottom layer, then place the top layer back over the cream. Allow to chill once more for at least 45 min to 1 hr before slicing to serve. Be sure to keep chilled to keep the pastry cream at the proper safe temperature. Consume within 3-4 days at most. Enjoy for breakfast or as a dessert!