Bienenstich

The almond topping goes on before it bakes, and the cake is split only once it is cold.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter), dairy (double cream), dairy (milk), honey.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 400 g plain flour
• 7 g dried yeast
• 50 g sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 60 g butter, softened
• 1 egg
• about 180 ml warm milk

For the topping

• 100 g butter
• 100 g sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 4 tablespoons double cream
• 150 g flaked almonds

For the filling

• 500 ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split
• 4 egg yolks
• 60 g sugar
• 40 g cornflour
• 200 ml double cream, whipped

Method

1. THE ALMOND TOPPING GOES ON BEFORE IT BAKES, AND THE CAKE IS SPLIT ONLY ONCE IT IS COLD. Its article gives the sequence in three sentences: the foundation IS A SWEET YEAST DOUGH, WHICH IS ROLLED OUT FINGER-THICK ON A BAKING TRAY; on it, BEFORE BAKING, A ROASTING MASS OF BOILED SUGAR OR HONEY, FAT, CREAM AND SLICED ALMONDS IS APPLIED; and AFTER BAKING AND COOLING, THE PASTRY IS DIVIDED HORIZONTALLY.
2. SO THE ALMONDS CARAMELISE IN THE OVEN, ON THE CAKE. Scattered on afterwards they would be almonds on a cake; boiled with sugar and cream and baked, they fuse into a lid that cracks when you cut it.
3. AND THE FILLING NEVER SEES HEAT WITH THE CAKE. The article is explicit that the splitting comes after cooling, which is the only way a custard filling can be in a baked cake at all.
4. THE DOUGH IS ENRICHED AND SLACK. Butter, egg and milk into the flour, kneaded ten minutes, risen an hour until doubled.
5. ROLL IT FINGER-THICK ONTO THE TRAY, which is the article's own measure -- about a centimetre and a half -- and let it prove a second time for thirty minutes.
6. BOIL THE TOPPING BRIEFLY AND LET IT COOL BEFORE IT GOES ON. Butter, sugar, honey and cream to a simmer for two minutes, then the almonds stirred through. Hot topping on proved dough kills the rise.
7. SPREAD IT TO THE EDGES AND BAKE AT A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOR TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES. The topping will bubble and go deep gold. Cover it with foil if it darkens before the cake is through.
8. COOL IT COMPLETELY IN THE TIN. Moved warm, the caramel lid tears away from the crumb.
9. MAKE THE CUSTARD THICK AND COOL IT UNDER FILM, then fold the whipped cream through. Thick, because it has to hold a lid of caramel and almonds without squeezing out.
10. CUT THE TOP INTO PORTIONS BEFORE YOU PUT IT BACK ON. This is the one piece of advice the article does not give and the one that saves the cake: the caramel shatters under a knife once assembled, so it is cut first and laid back in pieces.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Germany · All recipes