Bienenstich (German Bee Sting Cake) |

Have you ever read any articles about the different types of cakes? There are all sorts of different cakes that have been around for centuries, and the most common ones are made with flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and milk. However, some people like to make their own cakes using different ingredients. Some of these cakes are made from honey, others from fruit juice, and some even use bee stings as the main ingredient.

German bee sting cake is a traditional German cake made from apricots, almonds, and raisins. It’s made in the spring to celebrate the arrival of summer. Bienenstich is named after the European honeybee, which is the symbol of Germany.

Bienenstich, pronounced “bye-nehn-shtich” (German for “bee sting cake”), is a traditional German cake that is decorated with a pattern of hundreds of tiny colored bees. The cake’s traditional ingredients are also typical of German baking: eggs, yeast, butter, flour, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Some bienenstich recipes also include such ingredients as orange zest, candied ginger, lemon zest, nutmeg, and white chocolate. Even though many bienenstich recipes are based on these traditional ingredients, today you can find many different variations of bienenstich, including some that are gluten free.

Bienenstich Kuchen is made much better with honey and crispy almonds!

Looking for a delectable German cake with just the right amount of sweetness? This Bienenstich recipe must be tried.

This layer cake, also known as German Bee Sting Cake, seems complex but is really very simple to prepare.

The dough is similar to that of a traditional German butter cake. After that, the cake is sliced and filled with a smooth vanilla pudding cream layer.

Honey and butter glazed almonds adorn the top, providing a satisfying crunch as you break through!

Our Bienenstich came out beautifully, and we didn’t get stung while making it!

Background Information

Bienenstich is a traditional German cake recipe that is pronounced “Bee-nin-steeH” (there is no precise English equivalent for the German “ch” sound).

In reality, Bienenstich’s history – and how it acquired its unusual name – is a fascinating one.

According to legend, the German baker who invented the cake was stung by bees because they were drawn to the honey in the almonds!

Fortunately, the baker was passionate about the cake recipe and was willing to share it. The effort required to make this bee sting cake recipe was low for us!

More German cake recipes may be found here. This apple streusel cake, German crumb cake, simple marble cake, and chocolate zucchini cake are all delicious!

All chopped up and ready to serve Bienenstich kuchen!

In Lisa’s family, Bienenstich was always a popular cake, particularly when she went to see her grandparents for coffee and cake on weekends.

Bienenstich Recipe – Step-by-Step Instructions

You can see the whole recipe card at the bottom of this article if you wish to create this recipe for Bienenstich.

You may view the process pictures below for anyone who wish to follow along.

It’s often simply simpler to have pictures of what you’re meant to do, particularly when a cake has many stages, like this one does.

In a mixing dish, combine the ingredients.

We’ll begin by preparing the cake batter. To begin, reheat the milk in the microwave or in a small saucepan over low heat until it is warm.

It should be warm, but not boiling, since this may damage the yeast bacteria.

In a large mixing basin, combine the flour with the dried yeast. Sprinkle the sugar on top and then pour in the heated milk.

Make the dough by kneading it.

Knead everything for a few minutes using your electric mixer’s spiral dough hooks.

Combine the butter and egg in a mixing bowl.

Add the butter and the egg at this point. It’s best if they’re both at room temperature since it’s healthier for the yeast.

Knead the dough for another 5 minutes with your electric mixer – or your hands – until it forms a ball and no longer sticks to the edges of the bowl.

Knead the dough until it forms a ball.

Cover the bowl containing the dough ball with a cover or dishtowel and let it aside for one hour in a warm, draft-free area of your house.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pudding.

Meanwhile, follow the package instructions for making vanilla instant pudding. There are many brands available.

Some puddings must be cooked, while others do not, so just follow the package directions and be sure to add a little more vanilla essence.

You may create your own vanilla pudding at home if you don’t want to buy quick pudding. You can make your own vanilla pudding at home with our simple recipe.

Wrap cling film around the basin.

If you cooked the pudding on the stovetop, spoon it into a bowl and cover it with cling film after it’s done.

This will prevent the formation of the dreaded “pudding skin” that some people despise. Then, for the time being, put the pudding dish aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the ingredients.

It’s now time to make the almond topping. In a small saucepan, combine butter, sugar, honey, and whipping cream.

Allow the butter to melt and dissolve the sugar.

Heat everything on low until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved on the burner. Stir often.

Add the sliced almonds and mix well.

Remove the saucepan from the hot burner after the mixture has reached the desired temperature and whisk in the sliced almonds. Set the pot aside to cool once everything has been well combined.

The dough should be rolled out.

Now it’s time to work on the cake batter! Sprinkle some flour on the surface once the dough has finished rising.

Knead the dough quickly with your hands, then spread it out to the same size as the baking pan using a rolling pin. We used a baking pan that was about 13.5 x 9.5 inches in size.

Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes longer.

Grease and flour your baking pan lightly. The dough should then be placed in the pan and let to rest for another 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit in the meanwhile.

Cover the dough with the almond topping.

Spread the chilled almond topping over the dough once the 15 minutes are up.

Then bake the cake for 20-25 minutes on the center shelf of your oven, or until golden brown on top.

Starting towards the finish, keep an eye on the cake since every oven is a little different and you don’t want the top to brown too much.

Allow the cake to cool once it has been cooked.

Remove the cake from the oven when the top is beautifully golden brown and cool in the pan.

In principle, you could eat the cake like this, but we want to create a real bee sting cake, so we’ll need to do a few more steps.

Combine the ingredients for the filling.

Finish the pudding cream filling after the cake is almost completely cool.

You have two options here:

• If you want a lighter, fluffier filling, use whipping cream. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream until it is very stiff. In Germany, we would also add some “Sahnesteif” (a stabilizer similar to whipping cream) to make it harder, but we haven’t seen it in North American grocery shops. Then, using a spatula, mix the cream into the pudding (this is what we did).
• For a richer, somewhat firmer filling, you may use butter instead (as is more customary). To do so, cream the butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl using your electric mixer’s regular beaters until it has a creamy consistency. Then gradually add the pudding and continue to stir it in.

Using a knife, cut the cake into quarters.

After the cake has cooled completely, cut around the sides of the cake and the pan to ensure that the cake does not cling to the pan.

The cake should then be sliced into quarters and removed from the pan.

Using a knife, cut the pieces horizontally.

To remove the almond-covered top from the cake bottom, cut the quartered pieces horizontally in the center. This works better with a serrated knife in our experience.

Cut the tops and spread the pudding cream over the bottoms.

Spread the pudding-cream filling on the cake’s bottoms. We also suggest that you cut the tops into desired-size pieces right now.

Because the crunchy almond top may be tough to cut through, pre-cutting the topping now is much simpler than cutting the whole completed cake afterwards.

Put the cake together.

Then, in the proper order, put the sliced almond tops on top of the pudding-cream filling.

A dessert made entirely of bee stings…

Repeat with the remaining quarters until all of the bottoms have been filled and the tops have been cut for the whole cake.

Each quarter was divided into four pieces in our instance. You may wish to cut them differently depending on the size and shape of your baking pan.

To enable the pudding mixture to firm up, wrap the completed cake in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Simply cut the cake using the pre-cut top pieces as guidelines for serving.

Take a look at our Bienenstich slices’ creamy core!

Storage Suggestions

Bienenstich, in our view, tastes best when made the day before you intend to serve it (if you have enough time) or at most the night before.

Leftover slices may be stored in the fridge for up to a day if wrapped in foil or in a container. However, since this cake is filled with cream/butter pudding, it does not survive as long as dry cakes without filling.

Ingredients

The Dough

• 2/3 cup warm milk
• 3 cups flour (all-purpose)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast (dried)
• 1/3 cup sugar, granulated
• 1 teaspoon extract de vanille
• a generous teaspoon of salt
• 1/3 cup room temperature butter
• 1 egg, medium size, room temperature

Filling for Pudding-Cream Pudding (see notes)

• 2 quarts of milk (estimate)
• 1 box vanilla instant pudding (about 1/2 cup pudding powder)
• vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon)
• 1 pound of butter or 1/2 cup whipped cream (needed towards the end)

Topping of Almonds

• 1/2 cup sugar (granulated)
• 1/2 cup butter
• honey (two tablespoons)
• a quarter cup of heavy cream
• 2 cups almonds, sliced

Instructions

Prepare the dough.

1. The milk may be heated in the microwave or on the stove. It should be warm to the touch, but not hot or boiling!
2. In a large mixing basin, combine the flour and dry yeast (check the package to make sure it doesn’t need to be dissolved in water or milk first). Sugar should be sprinkled on top. Add the lukewarm milk and vanilla extract, and knead everything together using your electric mixer’s spiral dough hooks.
3. Knead in the soft butter and egg for about 5 minutes, or until the dough forms a ball and no longer clings to the edges of the bowl. Add a little extra flour if the dough is too sticky. If it’s too crumbly, knead it again with a little extra milk.
4. Cover the bowl with a cloth or cover and let the dough rise for 1 hour in a warm, draft-free location.

Preparing the Pudding

1. With the pudding powder and milk, make the instant pudding according per the box instructions. Add additional vanilla extract if you want it to have a stronger taste. For most quick puddings, the 2 cups of milk stated above should enough, but modify according to the pudding you’re using.
2. Pour the pudding into a bowl, cover it with cling film, and put it aside once it has been made. You don’t need the butter or the whipping cream just yet!

To make the almond topping, combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl.

1. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, honey, and whipping cream. Cook on low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
2. Take the saucepan off the heat and add the sliced almonds. Allow the mixture to cool.

Assemble and bake

1. Grease and flour a baking sheet/pan that measures about 13.5 x 9.5 inches.
2. Sprinkle flour on your countertop once the dough has finished rising. Re-knead the dough briefly before rolling it out to suit the size of your baking sheet.
3. Allow the dough to rest for another 15 minutes in the baking pan.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit in the meanwhile.
5. Spread the almond topping onto the dough once the 15 minutes are up.
6. Bake the cake for 20-25 minutes on the center rack of your oven, or until the top is beautifully golden brown but not burnt.
7. Take the cake out of the oven and set it aside to cool completely.
8. Whip the cream or butter for the pudding filling in the meanwhile. It is entirely up to you to make your decision. It will be somewhat fluffier if you use cream, but it will be richer, firmer, and slightly simpler to construct if you use butter. When using cream, use a spatula to gently incorporate the cream into the pudding. When using butter, gently fold the pudding into the beaten butter, a bit at a time. Set aside the pudding filling.
9. Remove the cooled cake from the baking pan by cutting it into quarters. Then, to separate the almond-covered top from the cake bottom, cut the quartered pieces horizontally.
10. Spread the pudding-cream filling on the cake’s bottoms. Cut the tops into appropriate sized pieces (it is easier to cut them into slices now than cutting the whole cake once it is assembled because of the crunchy almonds on top). Then, in the proper order, put the almond topping on top of the pudding-cream filling.
11. Enable for at least 1 hour of cooling time before serving to allow the pudding cream to thicken somewhat. Before serving, cut the cake into pieces.

Notes

• This cake’s batter is really simple to prepare. However, since the success of the recipe relies on the yeast, it’s essential to utilize yeast that hasn’t expired.
• It’s also crucial that the milk doesn’t become too hot when it comes into touch with the yeast. Otherwise, the dough may be unable to rise.
• You may create your own vanilla pudding at home instead of buying quick pudding. Simply follow our homemade vanilla pudding recipe for this.
• Leftovers of this cake may be kept in the fridge for up to three days.

Information about nutrition:

Serving Size: 16 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size 422 calories 28g total fat 13g Saturated Fat 1 gram of trans fat 12 g of unsaturated fat 67 milligrams of cholesterol 183 mg sodium 38 g carbohydrate 3 g of fiber 14 g sugar 8 g protein

An online nutrition calculator was used to determine this nutritional information. It should only be used as a guideline and not as a substitute for expert dietary guidance. Depending on the particular components used, the exact values may vary.

How did this recipe turn out for you?

You may save it to one of your Pinterest boards and come back to it at any time!

Bienenstich is a traditional cake that is made from a mixture of eggs, sugar, butter, and flour. The batter is cooked in a cast iron pan. This cake is very popular all across Germany. I have done some research and found out that bienenstich is really popular in the south of Germany. The tradition of bienenstich was brought over to Austria by German immigrants. The composition of the cake is similar to many other traditional German cakes. Its main ingredients are eggs, sugar, butter, and wheat flour.. Read more about bavarian bee sting cake and let us know what you think.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it called bee sting cake?

It is called bee sting cake because the cake has a honey-like consistency.

What is bee sting cake made of?

Bee sting cake is a type of cake made with honey, eggs, and flour. Its a light and fluffy cake that is often served as an afternoon snack in the Middle East.

What is Germanys favorite dessert?

Germanys favorite dessert is called Krapfen.