Bienenstich Kuchen (German Bee Sting Cake) – Eggless

Today am so very happy to present this post as this will be my first post for We knead To Bake which I recently signed in for next years Bread baking . I was so excited and couldn’t wait more and starting by bread baking from this months challenge. Thanks to Aparna Balasubramaniam for letting me in in this very popular baking group . So this month Aparna suggested a very very addictive and delicious ( I mean it ) super delicious bread / cake from Germany . This was so addictive My H was like give me more n more it was a super hit one and I and My H enjoyed this a lot. Germany Bee sting Cake originally known as  Bienenstich Kuchen is a very famous german yeasted cake with a honey almond toffee like topping and custard pastry cream filling – this might sound so irresistible isn’t it – Indeed it is !!..

The Bienenstich has a brioche like dough which is normally made for yeasted cakeswhich might contain high amount of butter and milk in it.
Even egg is added to these but have an egg free recipe.The pastry cream filled in is not runny and must be a bit stiff so that it can carry the weight of the upper cake layer.
The problem in this cake is when you cut the cake into slices the filling might squish off which should not happen . So you must refridgerate it so that the pastry cream becoms stiff and you get a clean slice.The remaining filling can be used as a sauce or dip for this cake or can be licked as I did 😛 Let move to the recipe of this irresistible German cake .

Recipe Source : My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients

For the Pastry Cream Filling

250 ml milk (I used whole milk)
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vanilla flavored custard powder
200 ml cream ( I used Heavy cream )
1 tbsp corn-starch

For the Dough

1/4 cup milk (I used whole milk)
7 tbsp butter, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
Instead of 1 egg I added extra 1/4 cup warm milk 

For the Honey-Almond Topping

3 1/2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup almonds, sliced* (see Note above)

Method

For custard filling

• The filling can be made in the previous day and refrigerated till required.
• Remove  1/4 cup of milk, and put the remaining milk and the sugar in pan. 
• In a medium heat, bring this to a boil while stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. 
•  Meanwhile, dissolve the custard powder in the 1/4 cup of milk. Add this in a stream, to the boiling milk and keep on whisking so that no lumps are formed.
• keep on stiring  until the custard becomes very thick. 
• Take the pan off the heat and let the custard cool to room temperature. Give it a mix in few intervals so that there is no lump formation and custard remains smooth. 
• If it does become lumpy after cooling, use a hand blender or mixer to make it smooth. 
• cover this with cling wrap and refrigerate 
• Once you are ready to fill the Bienenstich, whip 200ml of cream till soft peaks form. Then add the corn-starch and whip till it forms stiff peaks. Whisk the custard to make sure it is smooth. Gently fold the cream into the custard. If you feel it is too soft, refrigerate for a couple of hours and then use.

To make the dough

• Heat the milk until it is warm but not boiling. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the milk, stirring it until the better melts completely. keep side so that it cools down a bit.
• Meanwhile, put the flour, sugar, salt and the yeast in the bowl . 
• Mix all the ingredients add the butter-milk mixture(it should be warm, not hot) and also  1/4 cup of warm milk  and the then knead till it forms a smooth and soft (loose) brioche-like dough .  The dough must be easily handle-able. 
• Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl. Cover loosely and let it rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 
• This dough will rise quite well but not to double in size as our other breads do.
• Deflate or punch the dough, and shape again to a smooth ball. 
• Place it in a 8” spring form cake tin lined with parchment.
• It is very importation to line your tin with parchment otherwise it will be difficult take them out of the pan  . 
• Flatten the dough a little, pressing down lightly so that the dough fits the cake tin. 
• It ok if it doesn’t touch the corner of the tin .
•  Let it rise for about 30 to 45 minutes more. It will not rise very much and look a little puffy.

To Prepare the topping while the dough rises

• Melt the butter, sugar, honey and vanilla in a small pan, over medium heat. 
• Keep stirring frequently and it will start bubbling up. Let it cook for about 3 minutes or so ( not more than that else it will turn hard ) until it turns to a light beige colour. Add the sliced  Blanched almonds, and stir well till the almonds are well coated. 
• Take the pan off the heat and let it cool a bit. The mixture will become quite thick.

To Bake the bread

•  After the dough rises spread the fudgy like topping evenly all over the top of the dough. If there are small gaps they will get covered once the bread/ cake is baking.
• Bake at 180C (350F) for about 25 to 35 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbling. 
• A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.
•  Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then gently loosen the sides with a spatula and unmould. Let it cool completely on a rack.

• When it has cooled completely, slice the cake into two equal layers carefully, using a very sharp knife. 
• Spread the pastry cream or the filling on the lower layer and top with the upper layer and refrigerate till ready to serve.