Why You're Likely Ending Up With Crumbling Cakes When Baking In A Bundt Pan

A Bundt pan is probably the most uniquely shaped baking pan to be used in home baking. The hills and curves of the Bundt can make for a densely delicious cake, but not every batter should get the Bundt treatment.

The wrong cake mix can lead to a crumbling Bundt cake instead of a cake that is smoothly shaped and comes out of the mold without falling apart. Plenty of other mistakes, like using a pan that isn't properly greased or not allowing the cake to cool before flipping it out of the pan, can lead to a broken Bundt. Achieving a perfect Bundt requires patience and maybe some finesse, especially when trying to release a stubborn Bundt cake from its pan.

However, even with all those other details taken care of, if the batter isn't made to be in a Bundt, it will fall apart. Choosing the right recipe will help you avoid the crumbling mess of a Bundt gone wrong. So, dust off your forgotten Bundt pan, pull it out of storage, and find out why it all comes down to the batter.

Whether you're using your grandmother's go-to cake pan or you're taking a gamble with using a silicone Bundt pan (which you really shouldn't), what you need to focus on is the type of cake you're making. Dense recipes like pound cake or zucchini breads make for a better crumb structure and are the best to be used in a Bundt pan.

Lighter batters like the ones found in box mix cake won't come out of the pan as cleanly and will likely lead to crumbling. If you are going to use a box mix or try to make a lighter sponge in a Bundt pan, you'll want to consider adding in butter or sour cream to thicken the batter. But, be sure not to overmix the batter as you incorporate ingredients. Overmixing can make the cake more fragile as it bakes and cause the crust to separate and crumble.

Once out of the oven, the goal is to have a Bundt that stands proudly on its own. The best way to do this is with a fudgy, moist foundation of batter to hold it all together.