Description

This German cake might have gotten its name from the honey in the topping which might have then attracted bees to it. Whether it is true or not, does not take away from the fact that this is a wonderful dessert.

Ingredients

• Pastry cream:
• 1¼ c. milk, whole or 2%
• ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise or 1 t. pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• 3 large egg yolks
• ¼ c. sugar
• 2 T. all-purpose flour
• 2 T. cornstarch
• ½ T. liqueur like Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch or Amaretto, optional
• Brioche dough:
• ¼ c. whole milk
• 1 T. honey
• 1½ t. active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ¾ c. all-purpose flour
• 2 T. sugar
• ½ t. salt
• 1 c. plus 2 T. bread flour, divided
• ½ c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Honey-Almond Topping:
• 4 T. unsalted butter
• ¼ c. sugar
• ¼ c. honey
• pinch of salt
• ¾ c. sliced almonds

Steps

1. Hint: make the pastry cream and prepare the dough a day of ahead of time.
2. Pastry Cream:
3. In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, mix sugar and egg yolks together. (Don’t let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Sift flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.