Bee sting

A sweet classic, reinterpreted: A crunchy caramel layer, a fluffy dough and a heavenly delicious cream filling make Bienenstich the perfect cake. Our version adds aromatic hazelnuts to the caramel crust and the filling surprises with an irresistible combination of fine cream and nougaty, nutty chocolate chips. Stracciatella delicious! And so uncomplicated that you don't even need a special occasion for the surprise, even though this bee sting is undoubtedly a beautiful eye-catcher on any festive table.

1. to make the roasting mixture, prepare the chopped nuts, place a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray and place the ring of the cake tin on top.

2. gently heat the cream with the honey, sugar, a pinch of salt and two pinches of vanilla sugar, stirring until the bubbles rise more slowly, the liquid has thickened slightly and the color changes from milky white to creamy to caramel-colored. This is best done in a copper kettle on a gas hob. Fold in the chopped nuts and pour the mixture directly onto the baking paper in the ring while still hot, leave to cool slightly and then place in the freezer or freezer compartment.

3. For the yeast dough, prepare the egg and butter at room temperature. Dissolve 25 g sugar in 100 ml lukewarm milk, then stir in the dry yeast and leave to stand for 10 to 15 minutes until the yeast is activated. In a large bowl, mix the flour with a teaspoon of salt, add the butter, egg and yeast milk. Knead well - a few minutes with a food processor and then by hand - until the dough is elastic. Then cover the dough and leave to rest in a warm place for 45 minutes until it has visibly increased in size.

4. Stretch the dough, shape it into a ball and leave to rest again, this time for about 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Line the baking tin with baking paper. Allow the paper to protrude around the edges to prevent some of the roasted mixture from leaking out during baking. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and place on the base of the prepared tin. To prevent bubbles from forming during baking, prick the dough several times with a fork. Place the chilled topping directly from the freezer onto the prepared pastry base.

6. Place the tin with the pastry and topping on one of the lower shelves in the preheated oven (220 °C, top/bottom heat) and reduce the oven temperature to 200 °C. Bake for around 20 minutes until the topping is nicely caramelized. The base should now be golden to lightly brown. Remove the tin from the oven and leave to cool thoroughly.

7. For the filling cream, whisk a pinch of salt, a little sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice into the ricotta and stir until all the lumps have dissolved. Add 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar to 200 g of cream, whip until stiff and carefully fold into the ricotta cream. Add the nougat chocolate pieces, stir carefully and voilà: stracciatella cream.

8. Divide the cooled pastry into top and bottom halves using a long bread knife. Now use a piping bag with a star nozzle to spread the cream over the base. Cut the top half with the caramelized topping into portioned pieces and carefully place on top of the cream layer.