Bienerstuck: German Coffee Cake Recipe

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The Bienerstuck coffee cake has fallen out of favor in recent years but deserves a chance to be tasted by everyone.

Photo by racamani/Fotolia

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In "A Jewish Baker's Pastry Secrets," author George Greenstein's expert instructions educates readers in making doughs for bundt, babka, strudel, gugelhopf, stollen, pressburger, puff pastry and Danish to create a jumping-off point for more than 200 variations of classic pastries, including napoleons, coffee cakes and sweet buns.

Cover courtesy Ten Speed Press

8 servings SERVINGS

Author George Greenstein has a gift for teaching home bakers to think, work and bake like the pros with his evocative and tactile descriptions of baking. In A Jewish Baker’s Pastry Secrets (Ten Speed Press, 2015), he crafts master dough recipes for Jewish holiday baking and European classics, creating a comprehensive set of building blocks for both beginners and baking enthusiasts. The book also offers an in-depth guide to ingredients and equipment, including both professional and home ovens, as well as 40 basic recipes for fillings, icings, and glazes. With Greenstein’s steady guidance and familiar voice, home bakers and professionals alike will be encouraged to turn out flawless pastry creations for any occasion.

Bienerstück

Bienerstück, known as “beehive cake,” is a yeast-raised coffee cake topped with caramelized honey and nuts and filled with cream custard. This is a lovely German coffee cake, at one time very popular but unusual now. A delight to old-generation Europeans, it waits its turn to be discovered all over again. The name in the original German suggests “bee sting.” Perhaps it was its name that “done it in.”