Oma's Bienenstich Recipe ~ German Bee Sting Cake

by: Gerhild Fulson  /  Cookbook Author, Blogger, German Oma!

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This Bienenstich recipe is my quick version of my Mutti's traditional German Bee Sting Cake with its sweet, chewy, and nutty topping and creamy filling. 

Mutti's Bienenstich was oh-so-good!

For some reason, though, it didn't find it's way into my oven, perhaps because when she made it, it took so long to make. So, I decided to create a recipe that was quick and easy.

And, although yeast baking is easy, it is a bit time consuming. I needed something easy AND quick AND made without yeast.

You see, a couple of years ago, I'd been asked to post a "Bee Sting Cake" recipe in my Kaffeeklatscher group on Facebook and realized how much I missed having the cake my Mutti used to make. After all, this German food is SO good!

I combined several German recipes. I did some alterations, and, voila, I made my son, Mike, a Bienenstich birthday cake. WITHOUT YEAST!

Now, this may not be the traditional German recipe, but it is wunderbar lecker! It certainly satisfies our need for German deliciousness! And, everyone who's tried it, always asks for the recipe.

The traditional Bienenstich ...

Usually Bienenstich is made on a baking sheet, so the resulting cake is quite large. That's great for large parties since yeast dough is fairly inexpensive.

However, it really does need to be eaten the same day it's made because the yeast dough dries out fairly quickly.

The usual filling for this Bee Sting cake is either rich vanilla custard, whipped cream, or buttercream. My Mutti made the custard. Again, that takes more time. So, I went with just whipped cream. Easy and I find, it tastes lighter than the custard. So good!

If you're wanting to see how to make a traditional yeast version, take a look at this one, and you'll understand what I mean, as far as the time it takes, and extra work.

Grab your copy of Oma's favorites in her Special Occasion German Cakes & Tortes e-Cookbook.

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Oma's non-traditional Bienenstich

Tasting like the traditional one, but without the yeast, this one is a quicker version. Tastes so good, and doesn't dry out as quickly as the yeast one.

The only tricky part of this recipe is the timing.

You make the cake layer, bake it, and during the baking time you make the topping, which takes a bit of time.

The topping is put on the cake just as the cake is finished baking and then the whole thing is placed under the broiler to finish browning the top.

To make it all go smoother, have the topping ingredients already pre-measured and ready to go so that the topping is ready when the cake comes out of the oven.

How to make this Bienenstich

First, get the topping ingredients ready. Measure them out and everything ready so you can make the topping as soon as the cake goes into the oven.

Once your topping ingredients are all measured and ready to go, make the easy cake base. 

It's simply a matter of following the recipe to add them in the proper order, making sure you heat that milk and butter.

After you make the batter for the cake, pour it into a greased springform pan and bake.

I usually make it in my regular oven, but below I tried it in my Kalorik MAXX Air Fryer Oven to see how it would work. It works the same as the regular oven, using the same temperature. I placed it on the Bake 2 level height and used the Oven mode.

If you decide to do it in an air fryer oven, you'll need to turn the cake around half way through the time since the back is hotter than the front. In my normal oven, that isn't a problem.

Once the cake it in the oven, start that topping right away. You want it ready to go once that cake is golden brown.

As you make the topping, simmer it very gently for those 5 minutes, stirring continually so that it doesn't burn. Keep your eyes on that cake to make sure you don't keep it in the oven longer than necessary.

Once those 5 minutes are up, stir in the almonds.

As soon as the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and turn the broiler on. If you are using the Kalorik Maxx, turn it onto Air Fry mode and 450°F.

If the topping gets too thick, just before you go to put it onto the cake, add a bit of honey or cream to the topping and heat slightly.

Spread the almond topping evenly over the top of the cake. Place the cake under the broiler or into the Maxx.

Be careful because the top can burn quickly. This will only take a few minutes to get golden on top.

Carefully run a knife around the top edge while it is still warm to loosen the sticky topping from the edge of the pan.

Let the cake cool completely. Remove the outer ring and them carefully lift the cake off the bottom of the springform. Once the cake is cold, cut it into two layers.

To make it easy to cut the cake, I use a cutting tool from Zenker. It's one I brought back from German on my last trip. It's adjustable for height and I was very impressed how easy it worked.

If you wish, to make cutting the finished cake easier, you may want to cut the top layer into 10 to 12 wedges.

To make cutting the top layer easier, use an electric knife. If you decide not to precut the top, then once the cake is assembled, using an electric knife is the easiest way to cut through the chewy nutty topping without squishing out the cream layer.

Put the bottom layer on your serving tray. Place a cake ring around the bottom layer. If you don't hav a cake ring, just place the outer ring from the spring-form pan around the cake. Spoon the filling over the cake. 

Place the top layer over the whipped  cream and press down slightly.

If you've cut the top into wedges, add them to the top of the cake. If you kept the top whole, add that on top. Once the wedges (or the top) are in place, press down slightly.

Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Remove the outer cake ring carefully by running a knife blade around the cake first to loosen any cream that may be stuck to the ring.

This photo below and the one of the cut piece at the top of this page shows the cake filled with only one cup of whipped cream. I needed a smaller cake since this was going to be served after dinner and I didn't want a cake that was too 'filling'. 

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Oma's Bienenstich Recipe ~ German Bee Sting Cake

This Bienenstich recipe is my quick version of my Mutti's traditional German Bee Sting Cake with its sweet, chewy, and nutty topping and creamy filling. Mutti's Bienenstich was oh-so-good!

For some reason, though, it didn't find its way into my oven. So, I decided to create a recipe that was quick and easy.

Prep Time 40 minutes

Bake Time 25 minutes

Total Time 65 minutes

Servings:

This will make 12 servings.

Ingredients:

Cake Layer:

• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
• pinch salt
• ½ cup (120 milliliter) milk
• 1 tablespoon (14 grams) unsalted butter

Topping:

• ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter
• ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1½ tablespoons (32 grams) honey
• 1 tablespoon (15 milliliter) heavy (whipping) cream
• 1 cup (110 grams) slivered or sliced almonds
• ½ teaspoon (3 milliliter) vanilla extract

Filling:

• 2 cups (480 milliliter) heavy (whipping) cream
• 2 tablespoons (28 grams) instant vanilla pudding powder
• 2 tablespoons (16 grams) powdered sugar

Instructions:

Cake Layer:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Measure the topping ingredients and set them aside. That way they’ll be ready to make the topping while the cake is baking. 
   
3. Into large mixing bowl, mix eggs and sugar until thick and creamy.
4. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together and stir into egg mixture.
5. Heat milk and butter to just about boiling (I microwaved for about 30 seconds), stir and mix into batter.
6. Pour into greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for about 20 - 30 minutes until firm to touch and wooden toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
7. While the cake is baking, make the topping!
   

Topping:

1. In a small pan, melt butter over low heat. Add sugar, honey and heavy cream, stirring continually.
2. Bring to a simmer and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring continually.
3. Stir in almonds and vanilla.
4. Carefully spread topping on cake immediately as it comes out of the oven. NOTE, if the topping has gotten too firm, add a bit more honey or cream and reheat before spreading.
5. Set oven to broil.
6. Broil cake for a few minutes until the top is nicely browned being careful it doesn't burn!
7. Let cake cool on a wire rack. Remove outer ring from spring-form carefully.

Filling:

1. Whip cream, sugar and instant vanilla pudding powder until stiff.
2. Cut the cold cake into 2 layers.
3. Spread filling on bottom layer.
4. Place top layer on top of filling. To make it easier to serve, cut this top layer first into wedges and then place on top of filling.
5. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Notes/Hints:

• If the topping gets too thick before spreading on cake, add an extra tablespoon of honey and/or cream and reheat.
• Place the outer ring of the spring-form pan back around the bottom layer in order to neatly put the filling on the cake. Place the top layer into the pan. Let sit in fridge until needed. Then remove the outer ring. Nice and neat!
• Bienenstich with the "chewy" topping can be difficult to cut through neatly without the cream filling squeezing out. It really is best if you cut the cake into 2 layers, cut the top layer into serving size wedges before you place them neatly on top of the filling. Makes for neater serving.
• If you prefer a less sweet filling, reduce the amount of powdered sugar.
• Another way to cut the cake (if you don't precut the wedges) is to use an electric knife. This tip is thanks to our Facebook fan, Candy B.
• If you love Bienenstich, you'll also love my Blitz Torte!
• You can bake this in the Kalorik MAXX Air Fryer Oven by using the oven mode in Bake 2 position for the baking part. I then put it onto air fry mode and upped the temp to 450°F to brown the topping for a few minutes.

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Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

11.07.2021 revision update

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Oma's Bienenstich Recipe (Bee Sting Cake)



By Oma Gerhild Fulson





My Bienenstich recipe is an easy version of the traditional "German Bee Sting Cake". Sweet, chewy, nutty top and creamy filling. Yummy!


Ingredients: eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, milk, butter, honey, heavy (whipping) cream, almonds, vanilla, vanilla pudding powder,

For the full recipe, scroll up ...

Let's connect...

Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.