The History Of The Bundt Pan Is More Fascinating Than You Think

In any baker's kitchen, a Bundt pan is considered a staple piece of equipment. By baking a cake in said pan, one turns a simple cake into a work of art without using a drop of frosting or a speck of edible glitter. Complete with decorative nooks and crannies built right in, Bundt pans never would have come into existence without a young couple from Minneapolis and a group of Jewish ladies who lived near them.

Newly married Dave and Dotty Dalquist had a dream of starting their own business. With Dave's chemical engineering degree and steel mill metal working experience, and Dotty's upbringing by Danish immigrants, they agreed that a specialty bakeware company was a choice that would blend both of their skill sets. By 1946, their company, Nordic Ware, was born. The Dalquists found inspiration within their very own community; many Scandinavian immigrants made Minnesota their home, and Nordic Ware created the kind of bakeware these people were familiar with.

As word of their business grew, some local Jewish women reached out to the Dalquists to see if they could create a more user-friendly version of the Gugelhupf pan from Europe (also called a bundkuchen). The solution Nordic Ware came up with is what is now considered the Bundt pan. It turned out beautifully baked, attractive cakes (as long as the person using them knew how to release stubborn Bundt cakes from the pan) that were easy to cut, but more than a decade would pass before the Bundt pan gained nationwide recognition.

Even years after its creation, the Bundt pan hadn't achieved strong interest outside of the Minneapolis area. But, in 1966, when Pillsbury hosted its renowned baking contest, the second-placed recipe — "Tunnel of Fudge" — was baked in a Nordic Ware Bundt pan. The baker, Ella Herlfrich, her recipe, and the Bundt pan all skyrocketed to fame following the baking contest, and it suddenly seemed that everyone wanted to get their hands on the new baking pan.

Although the Bundt pan may have been intended for baking cakes, creative cooks have found many ways to use the intricate pans. For example, entertainers found that they performed well as Jell-O molds. Today, Bundt pans are used to make monkey bread, ice for punch bowls, quick breads, and molded ice cream bombes — an ice cream dessert that Queen Elizabeth II loved. You can even prop a chicken upright on a Bundt pan and roast it in the oven or on a grill.

Nordic Ware now makes dozens of beautiful Bundt pans in different shapes, sizes, and patterns. The company even produces themed pans for various holidays and celebrations. Recipes for Bundt cakes are endless, and occasionally, they even break the internet, like the Tom Cruise cake does every Christmas. What's more, they're not even expensive: You can buy a 6 cup, Nordic Ware Bundt pan on Amazon for as little as $16.