Bienenstich Kuchen | German Bee Sting Cake

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy & Blessed Christmas and also a very Prosperous  New Year ahead.
As this is a Festive & Christmas Month, Aparna Chosen a yeasted cake, German Bee Sting Cake / Bienenstich Kuchen recipe. This is a very rich buttery yeasted cake with Custard Cream Filling which tasted so so delicious and definitely perfect for the Holiday Party. And this sure to add beauty to the Party table.

But of all the 12 breads which we baked this year for We Knead To Bake, first time I went wrong with the recipe and have baked it again today to get the fine result. First time cake dough, cream everything came out well except the crunchy Almond topping, I let it in stove for more time I think so it turned hard like brittle after cooking. But somehow I managed to scrap and spread it over the prepared dough. But after baking the cake topping wasn't good by appearance which made me upset for the whole day. Still i managed to click few pictures with sliced cake pieces, but was not OK with my bread.

So again today halved the recipe and baked it again. This time was cautious while stirring Sugar-almond mixture and got it right. But this time i used small round bowl and ramekin bowl, i greased the bowls with generous butter so after baking it easily come out of the pan. And also second time i made the dough without egg. Both egg & the eggless cake tastes great and there is not much difference in texture, softness and taste.

Recipe Source : My Diverse Kitchen  Preparation Time : 3 hours 20 minutes

Baking Time : 25-30 minutes

Makes one  8" cake 

Ingredients
For the Pastry Cream Filling

1. Milk  250 ml or 1 cup (I used whole milk)
2. Sugar    3 tbsp
3. Vanilla flavored custard powder    3 tbsp
4. Heavy Cream/Whipping Cream    200 ml
5. Corn Starch   1 tbsp

For the Dough

1. Milk    1/4 cup ( I used Whole milk)
2. Butter     7 tbso
3. All Purpose Flour    2 cups
4. Sugar    2 tbsp
5. Salt     3/4 tsp
6. Instant Yeast     1 and 1/4 tsp
7. Egg   1 no. (or replace with 1/4 cup milk)

For the Honey-Almond Topping

1. Butter     1 and 1/2 tbsp
2. Sugar    1/3 cup
3. Honey       2 tbsp
4. Vanilla Extract    1 tsp
5. Sliced Almonds    2/3 cup

Method
Make the custard for the filling first :

• This can be made the previous day and refrigerated till required.
• Keep aside 1/4 cup of milk, and put the remaining milk and the sugar in pan. Over medium heat, bring this to a boil while stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. In the meanwhile, dissolve the custard powder in the 1/4 cup of milk. Add this in a stream, to the boiling milk and keep whisking so that no lumps are formed.

• Keep whisking until the custard becomes very thick. Take the pan off the heat and let the custard cool to room temperature. 
• Whisk it on and off so it stays smooth. If it does become lumpy after cooling, use a hand blender to make it smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover 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 quite hot but not boiling. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the milk, stirring it until the better melts completely. Let it cool a little.

• In the meanwhile, put the flour, sugar, salt and the yeast in the bowl of your processor. Run a couple of times to mix well and then add the egg (leave the egg out if you don’t use it). Run again till the egg has also mixed well. Now add the butter-milk mixture (it should be warm, not hot) and the then knead till it forms a smooth and soft (loose) brioche-like dough that’s just short of sticky. It should come way from the sides of the bowl and be easy to handle.

• 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 or as much as the regular bread dough.
• Deflate the dough, and shape again to a smooth ball. Place it in a 8” spring form cake tin lined with parchment. It is important to do this otherwise the topping will make the bread/ cake sticky and difficult to unmould. Flatten the dough a little, pressing down lightly so that the dough fits the cake tin. It doesn't matter if its not touching the sides like batter does. Let it rise for about 30 to 45 minutes. It will not rise very much and look a little puffy.
• 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 until it turns to a light beige colour. Add the sliced 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.

• Now get ready to bake the bread/ cake. Once the dough has risen, use a spoon take bits if the topping (it will be quite thick, like a sticky fudge) and distribute it uniformly over the surface. 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 cake tester through 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 on the lower layer and top with the upper layer and refrigerate till ready to serve.

This is off to Aparna's We Knead To Bake # 12