Every time we go to Germany on holiday the hunt for the perfect piece of Bienenstich is on. Our little town has about half a dozen or so bakeries and cake shops and in the morning we start our search for this, some times elusive, cake. See, not every bakery will bake the same cakes every day and some of the bakeries vary the filling from butter cream one day to vanilla pudding the next. And for my other half it definitely has to be the one with vanilla pudding.

By the way, Bienenstich means bee sting, a nod to the honey used in the topping.

Here is the recipe.

You’ll need for the dough:

500g plain flour

100g sugar

1 packet dry yeast

250ml lukewarm milk

1 egg

50g unsalted Butter

a pinch of salt

 

for the filling:

2 packets vanilla pudding

750ml milk

1 packet vanilla sugar

100g sugar

1 egg yolk

200ml whipping cream

 

for the topping:

100ml whipping cream

50g unsalted butter

2 table spoons honey (runny honey works best)

100g sugar

200g almonds flakes

Make a little well in the flour and add the yeast, about 1 tbsp of sugar and a little of the warm milk. Mix it all together and let it rise in a warm place for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the filling. Mix the vanilla pudding and the sugar with a little bit of cold milk until you have a smooth mixture. Bring the rest of milk to the boil, stirring it constantly to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan. As soon as the milk starts to bubble take it of the heat, add the pudding mix and return briefly to the hob all the while stirring it. Once the pudding has thickened, take it of the hob to cool. Wait a few minutes and stir in the egg yolk. Leave it to cool completely.

Add the remaining ingredients to the dough and kneed until you have a smooth mixture. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

For the topping melt the butter in a pan, add the sugar, honey, whipping cream and almonds flakes.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Pour the cake mixture on a baking tray or in a round baking form, spread the almonds evenly on to the top and leave to rise for another 10 minutes.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cut the cake horizontally and leave to cool on a cake rack.

Beat the remainder of the cream with a hand mixer and fold under the cold vanilla pudding before filling the cake with it.

And there you have it – Bienenstich as it should be! Enjoy!