Bee Sting Cake (Bienenstich)

This recipe is a good base however the instructions are not very good for beginning bakers. And, keep in mind you are making a pastry and all good pastries require time and technique. A yeast cake and a homemade custard should be attempted by a medium to expert level baker. After reading some of the reviews (watery custard, sticky dough, no raising) those mistakes are not due to the recipe but the baker. As far as the filling, look up a pastry cream and the technique to make it if you are new to custards and fold in a soft peaked whipped cream. (Keep in the cream of tartar even if it's not in the recipe. It helps keep the peeks stiff). Or, just look up a recipe for bavarian cream- which is what the filling is. If you do like sweeter desserts this is the place to add sugar to your taste, whip it into the whipped cream and add a vanilla bean or vanilla extract. You can even add 1/2 tsp almond and 1/2 tsp vanilla. I would double the topping and use 3 tbsp of honey to give the cake the authentic bee sting taste. You can skip the confectioners' sugar and just use regular to add a bit more sweetness. Lastly, it is best to proof your yeast (look it up) or my personal preference is instant yeast (look up conversion for active vs. instant). And, if you are new to dough look up the 'window pane test' which will indicate whether or not your dough is kneaded well enough.

Great idea. I made this for my son's "Oktoberfest" for German class in high school. The bread and topping part were great. The filling was problematic. 1/3 c cornstarch to 1 1/2 c milk makes a very stiff wallpaper paste rather than "pudding". It wouldn't fold into the cream and just was lumpy. I would make this again, but would substitute a package of vanilla pudding with 1/4 teaspooon almond extract in it mixed with the whipped cream for the filling. Other than that it was yummy!

This is a special holiday cake to all of my German family members. We all loved it! When I make it again I will use vanilla extract instead of almond.

It was good I just thought it could be a little sweeter. Also to save time I used my bread machine on it's dough cycle.

This recipe was a long involved process. I had never made a yeast cake before and wanted to surprise some of my German friends. Aside from taking so long to prepare, the pudding called for too much whipping cream. I whipped the whole cup of whipping cream and added it to the milk and cornstarch mixture and it was too thin to use as a filling, so I used it as a sauce instead. Also, as a sauce it wasn't sweet enough. I was hoping that the pudding filling would be sweeter. I might make again, but would change the recipe to only half cup cream, and 4tbs white sugar in the pudding. Also, I would make 50% more almond topping for extra sweetness and crunch.

I have been craving this cake for years. Even though my results weren't as good as the German bakery version, I was still well impressed. The almond topping was a big hit. Next time I will skip the almond extract. To save time and extra pans, I used a can of Ambrosia Devon Cream custard whipped with the heavy cream. Fantastic!

MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........

My over-sugared American tastes found this to be a bit bland and I'm not sure I'd make it again considering all the effort involved. I somehow ended up with a very gluey dough at the beginning and had to add more flour than called for to make it workable. The amounts given also yieled tons more filling than I was able to use in the cake, so now I have to figure out what on earth to do with all the extra. I think I've about decided I'm not a huge fan of almond, and I'm wondering why the description says that this has a vanilla pudding filling...? It's almond flavor. There's no vanilla anywhere in the thing. Wonder where the name came from-- the honey flavor isn't too prominent, just a subtle sweetness. Doesn't make me think of bees very much :) Probably a good cake for some, just not something I'd want to make again.

I made this for an "Essenstag" for my german class... my teacher was thrilled and said it was one of the best she ever had! :]]

I tried this recipe, and I guess I was envisioning something different. I found it to be a little bland, and not worth all the effort. Thanks anyway.

I must have done something wrong. The filling was not very good.

I read the reviews but still wanted to give it a go. And because I prefer a sweeter treat I doubled all the sugar in each section. I'm also wondering if some of the measurements are off. My dough was gooey so I had to add extra flour. My custard was like hard tofu and wouldnt 'fold' even though I cut way back on the corn starch. During the final rise the top of the cake was really misshapen but I think it looked more 'rustic'. The almond honey topping was amazingly good but the rest of it was disappointing for the effort. If I were to make it again I would not bother with the filling. I am glad I tried it, though.

I have been baking since i was 5, and i followed the recipe to a "T" since it was the first time making it. I guess i am like some others expecting something different. the only thing i have ever tried that was harder than this was hard tack back in 3rd grade. the filling reminded me of a tiramisu filling. it was kind of bitter, and the almond extract just seemed very out of place. not sure why it tastes so different from almonds. lol. I am only rating this on my personal taste. I may try to revisit and tweak the recipe. but i was definitely expecting something light and fluffy. i couldn't even cut it into layers to fill it. I had to top it with the filling.

Cakes (2) came out fine and were well received. Made them for a German party. These are not sweet cakes and are more closely related to a fancy dessert bread. They are a lot of work and worth the effort for special occasions. I would not make these on a regular basis.

This cake was awesome, loved it! Yes, it was less sugary than our american sweet treats but that was the best part! The almond crunch was superb, but you do have to like almonds. I did not have almond extract so I used vanilla and that made it a perfect compliment to the almond crunchy top. Not hard to do and very nice results. The teacher and kids in my son's german class demolished it and were looking for more!

I was a little weary of this recipe given all the bad reviews, but it worked out perfectly. It turned out better than any expectation I could possibly have! Everybody loved it, and it definately was not too sweet, which was also one of my concerns. I did everything from scratch, and trying to use the ready-made pudim didnt work out, so I made th eone in this recipe. It was great, I think the people who havent been successful with it just lack time and patience. Just follow this to a t, and it will turn out perfect.

I made the dough using my bread maker and it turned out nice (could use more sugar though). I'd prefer eating it the next day when the bread absorbed the sweetness of almond mixture. I didn't serve it with pudding & whipped cream, cause I was short on time -- but it's still great! This cake reminds me of a german resto in Disneyland FL.

This was ok - the cake didn't raise all that much even though I gave it lots of time. Instead of making the filling, used the dream whip and vanilla pudding. It worked well. Got compliments and was told it was better than the German bakery where a friend first tasted this cake. Would make it again

I made this for my beekeeper son's birthday. Hmmm. Not so good. The Tres Leches Cake I made for my husband's birthday was a much bigger hit! This recipe is too much...do this...let it rise...do that...let it rise...! Just wasn't worth it.

i had a recipe for this cake from a german cousin, i did something wrong while making his and had to scratch it. so i combined this recipe with his and it turned out perfect! it ended up being the 3rd highest seller at my relay for life cake auction!

I love this recipe and have even made it adding chocolate and it is almost as good but I do like the vanilla slightly better!!

I found this recipe and immediately knew it was German. I'm German at least 45% and I can speak it. My mom loves this cake so I decided to surprise her and bake it. It took me a while to make since I timed how long the dough should rise for. I'm only slightly over a beginner baker but I managed to complete this cake perfectingly. My mom loved it and she's picky when it comes to American baking, no offense intended. I personally didn't like it because of the cream of tartar, but there probably wouldn't be any left if I wanted a second slice!

This was a recipe my mother used to make and I'd forgotten about it until seeing it on All Recipes. Turned out just as good as I'd remembered. Perhaps a little time-consuming, but certainly worth it.

The "Bienenstich" I remember from Germany had individual servings cut more like a "Napoleon".

I followed the recipe exactly. My end result was disappointing. The pastry was gooey, the filling was too much, and it was too big for the 8 inch pan,which made it rise quite high. I might try it again in the future to see if I get different results with a bigger pan.

I am in high school with little to no baking skills and I wanted to make this for a German food party and it took me three hours to do the dough alone and I started at nine and didn't finish until midnight then I made the pudding and two to three minutes wasn't enough so I tried to chill it and it didn't solidify at all it was ninety nine percent liquid so I had to start again and missed my food party and the "pudding" is lumpy and the taste is bland and it was beyond difficult to make

The cake is good I added some confectionery sugar to the pudding and whipped cream filling when combining them. Will make this again the kitchen smelled so wonderful when baking the cake.

This cake takes the cake!!! I did NOT expect it to be this delicious. It is, admittedly, time and labor-intensive, but well worth the work! My whole family was crazy for it and I will definitely make it again. Thank you so much!!!

To make the pudding with cornstarch is cumbersome , much better with vanilla pudding and whip cream and easier....

I think this recipe is like a 1-star as written but with just a few edits is a 4-star... so I'm giving it 3. Cake: if you knead by hand you add a huge amount of flour while kneading. I'd guess 2 cups flour is closer to the final figure. If you're trying to get your KitchenAid to knead it, you have to add put about 2 cups in while mixing. With that edit, the dough is fine. Not sweet but thats ok if the rest is sweeter. Topping, fine, but I will be doubling it in general and tripling the sugar. I put 1/4tsp almond extract in the topping too. Filling: I used 3 tablespoons sugar and 2tsp vanilla extract (and added two more yolks), but next time I'll try 6 tablespoons sugar. I folded the pudding into the cream OK with the KitchenAid on low. My pudding didn't come out like "tofu" as some others are saying. If it tasted like wallpaper paste, you didn't cook the milk/starch enough. Once cooked its not pasty. Then, don't add eggs until cooler than 80C and you're fine. When I was assembling it seemed like WAAAAAAAAY too much filling, and too runny. But, it firmed up over night in the refrigerator, so either cornstarch continues to firm (I've seen that in other cooking) or the cake absorbs some of it. By the time I served it the filling wasn't a problem at all. Final comment about sweetness: people are saying its "not American-level sweet" but I've been living abroad in Europe and Asia for 20 years. Its not even German-level sweet as written! 5-6x more sugar please!

Fantastic,,,,,

I found this cake a quite bland and more of a bread cake but it all depends on what you like since my dad and grandparents found it quite good, I would definietly say that this cake takes a lot of time and work to make with long breaks inbetween steps so it's more the kind of cake that should be made on occasions. I would not make this cake again because it requires a huge amount of work tho I might consider it if I added a lot more sugar and vanilla.

Excellent, light tasting, not overly sweet