Today is hive day of Germination month in the French Republican Calendar. We’re building off of Honey Butterscotch Sauce and making Smitten Kitchen‘s version of Bee Sting Cake. The cake is a traditional German cake (bienenstich) that has a touch of honey in the caramalized topping. According to Wikipedia, the name of the cake may have come from the hint of honey in the icing OR the much more likely story of:

Another source cites a legend of German bakers from the 15th century who lobbed beehives at raiders from a neighboring village, successfully repelling them, and celebrated later by baking a version of this cake named after their efforts.

Perfect recipe for hive day!

I love Deb and I love Smitten Kitchen and her version of this cake is very delicious. I would absolutely make it again. Unlike, say, radish leaf soup. Having just made the honey butterscotch, I adapted her recipe a bit and caramelized the topping before applying it to the cake.

Bee Sting Cake 

Cake

2 1/4 tsp of instant yeast

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

4 tbs butter

Topping

6 tbs butter

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbs honey

2 tbs heavy cream

1 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Filling

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbs cornstarch

2 tbs butter

First, the cake. Mix the cake ingredients until combined. Then cover tightly (in the same bowl you mixed it in) with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour in a warm place. Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan with spray or butter and lined with parchment paper. After the first proof, pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for the second proof for a half hour.

While the cake is on its second rise, heat the sugar and honey for the topping. Heat on medium for several minutes until all the sugar melts. Continue heating until the large, glassy bubbles turn smaller and the mixture gets darker and starts to smoke a bit. Remove from heat and carefully add in the heavy cream and mix until combined. Add the butter and salt and mix. Then, add in the almonds. Heat the oven to 350.

When a little cooler, add the topping to the top of the cake batter carefully. Bake the cake for about 20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool, remove from pan and cool completely on a rack. Slice the cake into two layers.

To make the creme patissiere, heat the milk in a medium pan until warm. In a bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together. Add the cornstarch and mix until smooth. Slowly temper in the warmed milk into the yolk mixture and then pour all into the medium pan. Heat on medium until it starts to bubble and then cook for a minute or two more. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla. Cool the filling completely before spreading it on the cake. Enjoy!