Bienenstich — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A yeasted cake with a crunchy caramelized almond-honey topping and a luscious vanilla custard cream filling — the beloved German bakery classic.

Ingredients

300g all-purpose flour
60g sugar
7g instant yeast
120ml warm milk
60g softened butter
1 egg
Pinch of salt
For topping: 80g butter, 80g sugar, 2 tbsp honey, 150g sliced almonds, 2 tbsp cream
For filling: 500ml milk, 1 vanilla bean, 4 egg yolks, 80g sugar, 40g cornstarch, 200ml whipped cream

Instructions

1 Make dough: mix flour, sugar, yeast, salt. Add warm milk, egg, and butter. Knead until smooth. Let rise 1 hour.
2 For the topping: melt butter, sugar, and honey together. Stir in sliced almonds and cream. Cool slightly.
3 Press risen dough into a greased springform pan. Spread almond topping evenly over the surface.
4 Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 25-30 min until the almond topping is deep golden and caramelized.
5 Make custard filling: heat milk with vanilla. Whisk yolks, sugar, and cornstarch, temper with hot milk, cook until thick. Cool completely, then fold in whipped cream.
6 Slice the cooled cake horizontally. Fill generously with vanilla cream. Replace the almond-topped lid. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Did You Know?

Legend says the cake got its name when bakers in a 15th-century Rhineland town defeated invaders by throwing beehives at them, then celebrated their victory by baking a cake with honey and almonds.