Bienenstich?

Does anyone know where I can buy some good Bienenstich? I know that, when I was a child, this was the preferred treat for every special occaision. My aunt got it from a bakery on the North Side (I think) and would get some filled with buttercream, some with custard. About 10 (?? has it been that long?) years ago, she told us that the bakery had closed and there would be no more bienenstich for us. I found several different recipes but was never able to make it quite the right way. Suddenly, having thought of it, I *really* want to find a place to buy some...

Danke,
Katharine

edited to add: I just called my Uncle and he tells me the bakery I am mourning is Beil's, which was at 4229 W. Montrose and closed around 1999. Apparently, they are now located in Wisconsin. Grr.

I'm no judge of authenticity, but I know that Bennison's bakery in Evanston makes it - or used to. Call them. They also used to make (seasonally) a baumkuchen that was tremendous. Good luck, and report back.

Thanks, mrbarolo. I cannot call from work, so I sent them a quick e-mail to make sure they'll be open this weekend. I will definitely report back after I have gone...

Katharine

You might also have success with Lutz or Dinkel's

Lutz Cafe & Pastry Shop
http://www.lutzcafe.com/
2458 W. Montrose
773-478-7785

Dinkel's
http://www.dinkels.com/
3329 N. Lincoln
773-281-7300

Best,
Michael

Hi,

I would definitely call ahead before trooping out to any of these places to assure your product really exists there.

Regards,

Thanks, Michael, for the other suggestions!

Cathy2, I will definitely call when I get home from work today. Otherwise, I have e-mailed all three suggested places; hopefully someone will reply! I have directions all printed out and tomorrow I will be getting up early to head to *one* of these bakeries.

Thanks to all,
Katharine

Okay, so Dinkel's doesn't carry Bienenstich at all. Lutz's does, but it has to be special ordered and so they do not sell it by the slice. The lady I spoke to at Bennison's didn't seem to have any idea what it was. She suggested I call back another day and maybe I could special order it.

Sigh.

Well, thanks, all, for your suggestions. I guess the silver lining is that I can sleep in tomorrow and not get up super early to go to the bakery...

Happy New Year.

cheers,
Katharine

Katharine,

The great irony here is I expected Lutz's to be the bakery which did not carry it. I did not expect it to be the only bakery that did.

All the best,

Bennison's lists it on their Web site, so whoever answered the phone is just ignorant.

They also list it at Schlegl's.

Well, for the past few years, I happily got ridiculously delicious Bienenstich at Schlegl's in Albany Park. I've got a birthday tomorrow and called to oder one for Saturday, but the phone was disconnected. Huh. So, I called the Lincolnwood location.

Apparently, Schlegl's in Albany Park is "no longer our store; I don't think it's open at all." The woman who answered at the Lincolnwood location was not very friendly or helpful.

The search starts anew.

As mentioned upthread, Bennison's has (very good) Bienenstich almost every day. Ask for "Bee Sting" if the teenager who answers the phone is confused.

As an aside, Kopp's in Milwaukee only makes their Bienenstich custard once a year but it is phenomenal. Not to be missed.

Bennison's Bakery
100 Davis St.
Evanston
(847) 328-9434

I can' t believe all the good bakeries that have shut down. Lutz is nothing like it used to be years ago. I know the bakeries have been driven out by the big stores but there are some that survive. One would think someone with a passion would get a little shop and start a business. Please bakeries, come back!!

Wishful thinking. Does anyone remember a bakery years ago near Belmont and Harlem called "The Village Bakery"??? My family used to go there and it was so yum.

Thanks for the Bennison's tip. I called and they do have it. BUT, they wouldn't let me order a full cake. They said they always have plenty of slices, so i could just come get what I want. Hmm. 40+ miles round trip to buy 12 (or more) slices of cake just didn't seem like something I wanted to do.

So, I went on-line searching. I e-mailed Dinkel's late last night to see if they offer Bienenstich. This time, the reply was yes! I called today to order some for work. The lady on the phone seemed confused, but when I explained that I had received an e-mail saying they *did* offer Bienenstich, she asked someone. So, I am going tomorrow morning to pick up a Bienenstich and an apple strudel for my co-workers. (Had to get a strudel, too, since she said the Bienenstich only comes in one size that serves about 8 and we've got 12 or so here.) I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Thanks for the tips!

bluroses wrote:Well, for the past few years, I happily got ridiculously delicious Bienenstich at Schlegl's in Albany Park. I've got a birthday tomorrow and called to oder one for Saturday, but the phone was disconnected. Huh. So, I called the Lincolnwood location.

Apparently, Schlegl's in Albany Park is "no longer our store; I don't think it's open at all." The woman who answered at the Lincolnwood location was not very friendly or helpful.

The search starts anew.

I just drove by the former Schlegl's location this morning. It appears that a new bakery/coffee house has gone in and looks like it is open. The Schlegl's Lincolnwood location isn't that far away. Why don't you call back and try again. Maybe they would be more helpful if you told them you were looking for Bienenstich and left out the part about asking about their failed location.

Oh, I told them what i was looking for when I called before: "Hi, I'd like to order a Bienenstich but when I called your Chicago location, the number was disconnected..." Not friendly or helpful or suggesting that I could come there.

Not that I wouldn't be willing to order from the Lincolnwood location sometime - the Bienenstich was divine! - but this time I was influenced by the attitude of the woman on the other end of the phone. Plus, seriously. We do not have much money and SB is still out of work, so even though Schlegl's is closer to us than Bennison's (30 miles round-trip as opposed to 40), I'm still not willing to drive that far. (Esp since we're obligated to go to the sourth 'burbs to celebrate his birthday with family this weekend.) I don't mean to sound argumentative, but I can't drive that far for cake right now.

Besides, it's moot this time around. Dinkel's did say they would make one and I am picking it up tomorrow morning. I am definitely open to giving Schegl's another shot and even getting to Bennison's sometime. This just isn't that time.

Well, I have to say that i was very disappointed in Dinkel's Bienenstich. My co-workers loved it and, to be fair, it tasted okay, but it was *wrong* - or at least wrong in my experience of Bienenstich.

The cake had so much custard in it that it was almost inpossible to serve; everyone got lumps of custard with a little cake mixed in. The topping was not the crunchier almond-honey topping that I dream about. Instead, there were sliced almonds on top with wet honey drizzled all over it. No crunch to be found. there were also raisins in it. I'll allow that there may be regional differences in Bienenstich of which I am not aware, but I have never had one with raisins, or one that... wet.

Again, everyone except me really loved the cake. I may have loved it, too, had I not had such a definite idea of what a Bienenstich should be.

I also purchased an Appe Strudel, which was lovely.

Guess there's no way around it... I'll *have* to shell out gas money if I'm going to get a good Bienenstich. Based on pump prices right now, that means it'll be while... Sigh.

Dinkel's Bienenstich from the top:


Dinkel's Bienstich, side view (yeah, the co-worker's cut into it before I even got there!):

cilantro wrote:Kopp's in Milwaukee only makes their Bienenstich custard once a year but it is phenomenal. Not to be missed.

This Saturday, FYI.

The Bienenstich did not look like the that of my childhood memories. I know that you're not in the market right now, but I will check with Julianne's Bakery in Elmhurst this week. I believe that they may make it. It will be good to know for future reference.

Regards,

Ms. Ingie

I went back to Schegl's this year. Pretty yummy. I'd love to know about other places that make it!

BTW, I did ride my bike to Bennison's one Sunday morning. I had called on Saturday to make sure they had it. Still, when I got their on Sunday, they had none and the girl behind the counter told me Tuesday was the best day to come. I was a little cranky riding 32 miles for naught and haven't had a chance to get there on a Tuesday since. I will, though...

Hi: Did you try Cafe Selmarie in Lincoln Square? I am almost positive they have served it before. Gosh, I know I have seen it somewhere (I have never tried it but I love the name) but can't remember where. What about Rolf's Patisserie in Lincolnwood? If you show up and they don't have it you can always soothe your soul with an excellent meal at Renga Tei!

good luck!

bjt

bjt wrote:Hi: Did you try Cafe Selmarie in Lincoln Square? I am almost positive they have served it before.

They definitely sell it by the slice at Cafe Selmarie. IMHO--a delicious rendition.

I will continue to vouch for Bennison's version. Why they don't want you to try it, I don't know.

Ooh. I will be in Lincoln Square on Wednesday, so I will swing by Cafe Selmarie to try theirs. Thanks for the tip!

(I was at Bennison's pretty early on that Sunday - when they opened at 8am. Maybe I should plan my next trip later in the day so a consolation meal could be planned if need be! )

I was driving home down Touhy from the beach today and low and behold I spied Schlegl's Bakery so I turned around and went for a visit. The indeed had Beinenstich in the counter. Although it didn't look as good as the ones I had in my childhood, it looked much better than the one from Dinkle's. However, I didn't buy any as I don't think it would be a big hit with my family. I did buy an apple struedel, so I'll report back after I've tasted it.

Regards,

Ms. Ingie

Ms. Ingie wrote:I was driving home down Touhy from the beach today and low and behold I spied Schlegl's Bakery so I turned around and went for a visit. The indeed had Beinenstich in the counter. Although it didn't look as good as the ones I had in my childhood, it looked much better than the one from Dinkle's. However, I didn't buy any as I don't think it would be a big hit with my family. I did buy an apple struedel, so I'll report back after I've tasted it.

Regards,

Ms. Ingie

I called Julianne's Bakery in Elmhurst and alas, they're no longer making Beinenstich either. As far as the strudel at Schlegl's, it was very good; better after I heated it in the oven. What I didn't really care for was that I think that either a) the filling was canned or b) the filling was homemade but was like canned filling, but better. (I'm having problems phrasing things today; a bit brain-dead.)

My favorite strudel was from the former Hogan's Restaurant at Lincoln & Wilson in Chicago (now Daily Grill.) I love strudel that is filled with sliced apples, a little sugar, cinnamon and bread crumbs. I don't care as much for the version w/saucy apples, if you know what I mean. (Still brain-dead.)

Take care,

Ms. Ingie

I'm starting to think there is a conspiracy to keep me from trying other Bienenstich's. I was in Lincoln Square to conduct some programming for work today. On my break, I headed over to Selmarie. They had NO bienenstich today.

Of course they didn't; they must have known I was coming!

Sheesh.

One of these days, someone will have it when I walk in.

Thanks for all the tips!

Hi,

Is it possible it is made for weekend traffic? Or it is seasonal? You may want to call to find out their baking schedule.

Regards,

We've gotten it before from the Austrian Bakery on Clark and it's pretty tasty:

2523 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60614-1711
(773) 244-9922

Cafe Selmarie's version is really, really good. I think they may have it more on the weekends? We have pre-ordered it from them for special occasions.

bluroses wrote:I found several different recipes but was never able to make it quite the right way.

I've used this recipe for beinenstich with good results. The hardest part is keeping the "cake" part whole while slicing it in half in order to fill it. I end up slicing the baked cake portion in four equal parts. Then, I fill each part and piece it back together to get the rectangular shape. The almond topping masks the pieces. Of course, you don't have to keep it whole. Click the recipe link to see picture. I find the Oetker ingredients at Cost Plus World Market, though I'm sure there are other sources. I enjoy each and every bite.