There are few household kitchens in the US, inhabited by home cooks our age, that don’t have a Bundt Pan. They’ve been around for fifty years. It’s a heavy cast aluminum cake pan with a metal tube in the center, which promotes more even baking. Nordic Ware, the manufacturer of the Nordic Ware Bundt Pan (a registered name), admits that the idea originated in Europe where “bund cakes” have been baked for special occasions for generations. The classic round and rectangular pans have been joined, of late, by some really neat designs (see photo), the products, I’m sure, of computer design technology.
Along comes a little wire-binded book, Bundt Classics, by Dorothy Dalquist, published by the Nordic Ware people, that collects and updates all the cakes they have promoted over the years. Quite a few: 92 cakes and desserts, supported by 19 glazes, sauces and syrups. There are also 31 bread recipes and even a dozen savory dishes — all written to be prepared in a Bundt Pan of one shape or another. From Apple Streusel to Walnut-Bourbon Pound Cake, the list is a trip through days of yore. However, getting a cake out of a Bundt Pan, in one piece, is a challenge as old as the pans themselves. The secret is to meticulously coat the inside of the pan with unsalted butter and a dusting of flour. One cannot spend too much time in preparing a cake pan. “Prepare in haste, repent at leisure,” as our master pastry chef instructed.
Anyhow, the book is inviting and reasonable in price. The Little Woman is anxious to try some of the old recipes again “for the first time.”