Patience above! The things that pop into my mind! “Write about Bundt cakes!” said an inner voice last night, when I was trying to read JAMA. This tangential topic doesn’t sound at all like something The Muses would inspire. [1] Whose the culprit I wonder? The Fates? The Norns? Who can tell. Regardless, this is what’s on the menu today. Bundt cakes. Oh the horror.
The other day while poking about the kitchen looking for a certain pan Someone keeps putting away in the wrong place, I came across the Bundt cake pan. [2] I cannot remember when I last baked a Bundt cake – Halloween 2019, I suppose. [3] My emotions tend to run towards ‘wanting to use things’ to justify their existence so when I saw the pan I thought I should get it out and wash it and make a cake.
The last thing I need to do these days is make a cake. My Bundt cake pan is a large and deep as Lake Michigan; it makes a cake to feed a lot of people. If I succumb to this lunacy I could make the cake and bring it to office. Alas, Babylon! The staff at work are rawther particular in their diets; as a group they are avoiding eggs and sugar and food coloring and anything that has to do with eating pleasure, so a Bundt cake I fear would go mostly uneaten. [4]
Mother used her Bundt cake pan ‘for company’ like her bridge parties and church functions. I don’t remember her ever making a Bundt cake for us kids. We got pan cakes. I suppose there is a difference in recipe/ingredients to make a proper Bundt cake, rather than just ‘cake batter, poured into the pan”. I will have to look this up.
Are Bundt cake pans used for anything other than cake? I don’t mean dinners shaped into a Bundt ring, but as a deep-dish cooking pan. Anyone know? Anyone use their Bundt pan for cooking meals?
As I type this, I have the terrible intuition these pans were (are?) being also used as Jello-molds. Anyone do this?
I’ve talked myself into making me a Bundt cake. Anyone got a to-die-for Bundt cake recipe?
[1] The nine Muses are known for their music and singing, not for their cooking. When is comes to food, they prefer eating in restaurants or ordering take-out. Thalia, on the other hand, has a killer recipe for pasta salad, which she brings to the potlucks.
[2] I should stop and state the word “Bundt” is a trademark name, like Champagne vs. sparkling wine. The “B” word is not to be used lightly lest Nordic-Ware sends The Furies or The Attorneys. The name for generic pans is ‘fluted tube pan”. Oh the pain. Risking wrath, I will keep using “Bundt”, as it is easier to type than fluted tube pan. Please don’t write in.
[3] The Halloween Bundt cake had an interior of purple, black, and orange-colored cake and the whole thing was adorned in glaze of same colors. Jolly good fun, that was!
[4] The protocol for cakes made for the office is an interesting psychological study. One has to cut out the first piece and eat it yourself, otherwise no one will touch it, as no one wants to be the first to cut into a cake. Cutting the cake into already-made servings also promotes the consumption of cake. It’s good to put a sign up saying “Chocolate Raspberry” or “Raisin Cinnamon” as people are more likely to bite if they know what it is exactly. Thems allergic to nuts or eggs appreciate an ingredient list but don’t go crazy on this or the cake becomes an object of suspicion that nobody eats. Curious! I find these ‘rules’ more likely in an office in which the staff are predominately women. The men-folk tend to just eat the damn thing.
60 comments
July 23, 2021 at 2:50 AM
Dwight W.
Good Morning , Happy Friday and Happy Weekend, Dr Spo. I always get pulled in because you actually have enjoyable writing talent. I’ll give you my two cents. Bundt pans work perfectly well for non Bundt cakes. In our house we have particular luck with a Lemon Pound Cake , family recipe. The pan adds interest and sometimes portion control. We use a broom straw to check for doneness. The cake in any office I’ve owned or worked in was successful.
I think your office under appreciates your baking . Charlatans they must be. We also make a mean banana bread from a 150 year old recipe given to my mother by a quilter named Miss Hattie! There may be Bundt mixes stiill, we do all from scratch.
July 23, 2021 at 6:52 AM
Urspo
Thank you for all this. I appreciate it so when a Spo-fan spends time to write out his or her thoughts.
Mother made her cakes all from scratch too, which is a puzzlement to me, given she didn’t do much else from scratch. Whatever her reason, it was ‘passed on to me’ to always make cakes from scratch.
I love recipes that have old-time family memories and stories to them!
July 23, 2021 at 3:40 AM
fallenstarstories
Well….if they won’t eat your Bundt cake, it’s their loss. And of course, more for you! (I’d eat some Bundt cake…oh, dear. You’ve started something here. Now, I have to make a Bundt cake.)
July 23, 2021 at 6:53 AM
Urspo
What sort of Bundt cake? I am already poking about thinking what type I plan to make this weekend.
July 23, 2021 at 4:15 AM
David Godfrey
I tend to use s round fluted tube pan for coffee cakes, or any cake. The cakes bakes well, and has lots of surface area, for me the best part. here is a link for a spice cake I made a few months ago,https://travelpenguin.blogspot.com/2021/03/foodie-friday-opps-well-that-worked-out.html. be brave
July 23, 2021 at 6:54 AM
Urspo
thank you for the link; it is a good enough cake as any to start with, and I will think of you when it is served to the staff.
What are your reasonable attorney’s fees on recipes?
July 23, 2021 at 5:36 AM
Pipistrello
Your Halloween cake does look spooky! In Victorian times there was a great fad for making jellied stuffs in extraordinary moulds, so I guess you could have a go with your Bundt pan – it’s just a bit more minimalist than turreted castles.
July 23, 2021 at 6:55 AM
Urspo
In my research on the origin of the Bundt cake, there is a legend the original was supposed to resemble towers/castles.
Aspic/jelly recipes ! Sooner I’d eat rats at Tewkesbury. It is charming however to read what was once considered posh and delicious is now anathema and cheesy.
July 23, 2021 at 6:10 AM
Bob Slatten
I once saw a recipe, including photos, of a meat loaf made in a Bundt pan. I love meat loaf, but it needs to “loaf,” not “Bundt.”
July 23, 2021 at 6:56 AM
Urspo
My soul swoons
I admit this sounds weird with a beard, but probably better for me than cake.
I will go have a look-see.
July 23, 2021 at 6:13 AM
JR~
Most of our bundt cake recipes are variations on “pudding cakes” They all have glazes rather than icing, and the cake is liberally pierced (heh heh) so that glaze can get down into the body of the cake. Natch, my favorite is a lemon pudding cake with lemon sugar glaze. I’ll have to hunt up that recipe.
Yes, people who enjoy elaborate gelatin thingies do use bundt pans as well as ring molds
July 23, 2021 at 6:57 AM
Urspo
The first time we met The Lovely Neighbor she brought over a lemon bundt cake; when I have any sort of lemon cake, I remember her.
July 23, 2021 at 7:02 AM
Moving with Mitchell
I would think bundt cake pans must make great Jello molds. Ever time hear )(or read) bundt cake now I immediately picture Lainie Kazan in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
July 23, 2021 at 7:08 AM
Urspo
Funny you should mention this! In my research on the topic I ran across a reference to a joke about Bundt cake in that movie. I should go to the Tube of Yous to see if it is there.
July 23, 2021 at 7:05 AM
jenn
I know all about “office” treats. The unspoken rule at work was, if you are saving it for something special, don’t put it on the staff room table because people will eat it. (e.g. if you brought little treats for your classroom vs. if you brought donuts for the staff).
The whole bundt cake makes me think of the scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (a wonderful, fun movie if you’ve never seen it). -Jenn
July 23, 2021 at 7:08 AM
Urspo
That’s two in a row mentioning this movie matter – I am off now to the Tube of Yous to have a look-see.
July 23, 2021 at 7:11 AM
Urspo
OK I just saw it. “There’s a hole in this cake!” That is funny !
July 23, 2021 at 7:18 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
I lust after NordicWare. I go to my favourite kitchenware store which stocks all the different shapes of pans and I fondle them while dreaming of making fantastical cakes. The lowly Bundt pan is the least of NordicWare’s glories. But I haven’t actually bought a pan or made a cake yet because I have the same problem you do — who will eat all that cake? I certainly can’t and shouldn’t. And as a retiree, I can’t even fob it off on office mates anymore. Oh, the dilemma! Last time I was at the kitchenware store, I bought a cookbook (published by NordicWare, of course) called “The Bundt Cookbook” just to torture myself!
Your Halloween Bundt Cake looks fabulous!
July 23, 2021 at 7:23 AM
Urspo
NordicWare has a Bundt cookbook?
You fowl temptress you!
This may be a must-get-or-perish item.
You also inspired a blog entry: things I should not be doing/buying
You are better than all the Muses put together – and the Skanks.
July 23, 2021 at 8:18 PM
Will Jay
Debra Who Seeks is on to something. Read the cookbook and taste in your mind. 😊 This can be done without admonitions from your primary care physician about diet and exercise and there are no leftovers.
July 23, 2021 at 7:29 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
I’m just looking through “The Bundt Cookbook” right now and there are recipes, not only for cake (from scratch AND from mixes) but also for bread (quick and yeast), salads (involving gelatin) and entrees (involving meat), “special desserts” and glazes, syrups & sauces. Also tips on how to decorate using your Bundt pans.
You MUST have this cookbook! I am mailing it to you today. No, no, I insist. It will give me an excuse to go back to the kitchenware store to buy another copy and fondle all the pans again.
July 23, 2021 at 7:31 AM
Urspo
Wow!
Thank you!
You know that every time I see it/use it I will think of you!
OXOX
July 23, 2021 at 7:59 AM
Old Lurker
More carbs? Oh dear. Have you considered that it may not have been the Muses or Fates or Norns who inspired this entry but Adephagia? Or perhaps Satan himself, if you don’t mind mixing up your mythologies? Not only are you about to embark on BAKING, but now all the Spo-fans are contaminated and want to bake Bundt cakes too! At the very least you could mail us all a slice, but noooo. Now we have to go out and fondle our own Nordic-Ware and fill it with delicious sweetened starch batter which we will bake at 350F until a toothpick comes out clean. Oh the pain.
Oh wait. “Nordic-Ware”?? That is awfully suspicious. Has TBDHSR has been arranging for you to do some product placements? Will we see some enthusiastic Spo-reflections on cruises to the fjords anon? Maybe ruminations about a particular brand of mead?
July 23, 2021 at 8:17 AM
Urspo
NordicWare is the official kitchen ware of Heorot Johnsons II; they would not have it any other way. They despise anything Gaul (AKA French) so Cuisinart is right out.
As for mixing up the mythologies, it is what I do best. It’s impossible to keep them separate, which is OK as they are all coming from the Universal Subconscious.
July 23, 2021 at 8:13 AM
claudiajustsaying
I have one of those floppy new Bundt pans I bake all cakes in. The cake slides out. Recently I brought a cranberry orange cake to my doctors office. Just saying they loved it. Claudia
July 23, 2021 at 8:18 AM
Urspo
I floppy one? Who knew?
Mine is made of titanium or something; I suspect it would survive an earthquake.
I am going to bring a Bundt to work next Monday.
July 23, 2021 at 8:22 AM
claudiajustsaying
I original bought this pan (wish I could tell you what it’s made of) to cook molasses brown bread on the stove top. You create a bath, the pan in a pot of simmering water.
July 23, 2021 at 8:17 AM
Jean
I love Bundt cakes and Bundt tins, even the word Bundt fills me with joy! I read somewhere that it comes from the German word for large gathering (bund) so a large cake for a lot of people and the volume of cake mixture cooks more quickly by virtue of the hole in the middle of the tin.
You don’t have to eat it all at once!! Nearly all cakes will freeze well and chunks of it can be brought out for dessert. One of my favourites is this one for a pumpkin spice cake: http://deliciousdeliciousdelicious.blogspot.com/2012_09_01_archive.html
which is also made in my favourite shape of Bundt tin and uses tinned pumpkin purée (which is not easy to get in the UK). The last time I made the recipe I added some chopped walnuts and a grated apple.
Mind you, your particular Bundt tin is gorgeous. Do you happen to know the name of it? I hope you make your Bundt cake soon…happy baking!
July 23, 2021 at 8:24 AM
Urspo
I am delighted to hear you like them.
How silly of me to not consider Bundt cake can be cut up and frozen for later.
I thank you for the recipe link. I love pumpkin, so this will be a good October cake to make.
About the photos – they are taken from the internet. My Bundt cake pan is your ‘basic’ and I don’t think mine have every turned out as photogenic as these two. Maybe the pumpkin one may be decent enough to photograph to share here.
July 23, 2021 at 8:30 AM
Robzilla
I saw someone use it as a Jell-O mold on TV once, but that’s about it. That reminds me. I need to donate my spongeform pan and electric mixer to Goodwill soon. Neither has been used since well before the pandemic.
July 23, 2021 at 8:53 AM
Urspo
Unused kitchen gadgets are a bit of a bone of contention here at La Casa de Spo. I am for getting rid of the things not likely to be used (shrimp deveiner, as Someone is allergic to shrimp) but he likes to hold onto them lest we someday need to use it.
July 23, 2021 at 8:33 AM
Paula
In my world (farm wife) , the bundt cake has always had the greatest chance of being completely consumed. Just a cake mix and a simple glaze and they always ooh and aah and eat it.
July 23, 2021 at 8:54 AM
Urspo
I am beginning to think the shape of a bundt cake somehow makes them more likely to be eaten than pan cakes. Could it be the extra work to get cake out of the pan makes them less appealing?
July 23, 2021 at 8:34 PM
Will Jay
I think that it is the architectural element of the cake presentation that says “Pay attention! Your host(ess) put some extra time, effort, and thought into this” and marks the event as an occasion especially if it is blazing hot outside and you had to turn on an oven to do it.
July 23, 2021 at 8:43 AM
Linda Practical Parsimony
Layer cake batter is fine for a Bundt cake pan. My favorite Bundt cake is chocolate but I lost the recipe in my house. I had tweaked it. Nothing on it but sprinkled powder sugar. Daddy loved it because he just hated cakes with frosting or icing. It cooked for 1hr and 20 minutes. It was light color and easy on the stomach, but very moist.
July 23, 2021 at 8:55 AM
Urspo
I concur with this. As a boy I loved frosting; as an adult I want just a nubbin if any. The cloying strong sugar taste interferes with the taste of the cake itself.
July 23, 2021 at 9:12 AM
Lori
You can use pretty much any cake recipe in your Bundt pan. One of my doctors, originally from Poland, makes an amazing rum cake in hers. One of my favorites to make is an orange cake drizzled with a very light cream cheese frosting. You can also buy individual sized Bundt pans now. They are so cute. Have fun baking.
July 23, 2021 at 9:17 AM
Urspo
I am not a baker (yet) but Bundt cakes sound safe and scrumptious
So many recipes to try!
July 23, 2021 at 11:09 AM
Parnassus
My mother has always been a good and frequent baker, but she has never owned a Bundt pan. Your Halloween effort looks well suited to the occasion (I really like the menacing ghost effect), but I can understand your staff having concerns about food coloring. I just checked Wikipedia. The official pans were introduced in the 1950’s, but: “Uses of the word bund outside of Europe to describe cakes can be found in Jewish-American cookbooks from around the start of the 20th century. The alternative spelling “bundte” also appears in a recipe as early as 1901.” You can bring this up at your copyright infringement trial.
–Jim
July 23, 2021 at 1:01 PM
Urspo
I plan on making a killer bundt cake for the occasion, and bribing the jury with it
July 23, 2021 at 12:42 PM
Linda Practical Parsimony
I would never put Jello in my Bundt pan! I have a Tupperware mold for that!
July 23, 2021 at 1:00 PM
Urspo
That sounds sensible to me. I have a vague memory my mother had all sorts of fancy plastic Jello molds.
July 23, 2021 at 1:06 PM
Will Jay
I believe that there is a video on Food 52 in which Dorie Greenspan demonstates a lemon Bundt cake (made it, and will make it again some time in the future). Also, there is a cardamon spice cake recipe at the King Arthur Flour website that I’d probably make again. Believe it or not, the Nordic ware website has a recipe for a pound cake that takes well to the Bundt (after the cake has cooled and has been released from the pan, fill the center “hole” with lightly moderated seasonal berries).
Happy baking!
July 23, 2021 at 7:39 PM
Urspo
I think a lemon cake is the one to do. It seems right for a summer day.
July 23, 2021 at 1:48 PM
Debbie W.
You have struck a chord with me, and with many others, it seems! I love my Bundt pans. I have two: one is metal, and is an official Nordic ware pan from the 1970’s. My second Bundt pan is actually made of crockery, and is an official Pampered Chef pan from the 1990’s. I love both pans dearly, and they rest on a shelf with my treasured 1974 Crockpot, and my even-more-treasured 1981 Kitchen Aid mixer. ❤️ Your Halloween Bundt cake looks fabulous!
July 23, 2021 at 7:40 PM
Urspo
Another testimony!
I was not aware until my research and the comments here there were different types.
July 23, 2021 at 1:51 PM
Gigi Rambles
I have THE perfect recipe for your Bundt Cake – a lemon pound cake. It is one of Man-Child’s favorites and it’s not a fussy recipe at all (in fact one of the ingredients is a boxed cake mix). Here you go:
Cake Ingredients
A yellow cake recipe or if you want to make your life easier – and who doesn’t? – a yellow butter cake mix (my personal favorite? Duncan Hines Buttery Golden mix)
1 cup of plain flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup of milk
3 eggs (room temperature)
8 oz sour cream
1 stick butter (softened)
1 teaspoon of pure lemon extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix it all together well. Generously (and I do mean GENEROUSLY) spray the pan with Pam with flour. Pour the mix into the pan and bake for one hour. Put a plate upside down on top of the pan and flip it over. If you greased the pan well it should just slid right off the cake.
Glaze Ingredients
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 – 3/4 cup of sugar (it really doesn’t matter, I promise either portion will work)
juice of a lemon
lemon rind grated
confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
Put the first four ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil; stir in powdered sugar (just eyeball it) stirring until the powdered sugar melts completely. Pour over hot cake.
Let me know what you think if you try it.
July 23, 2021 at 7:41 PM
Urspo
yes yes yes
I was thinking to make a lemon cake for the first attempt – and lo! one shows here! thank you! Yes this is on the weekend menu.
July 24, 2021 at 2:35 PM
Gigi Rambles
You’re welcome! Enjoy!
July 23, 2021 at 3:31 PM
itsmyhusbandandme
As a child my mother, Cruella, used her Bundt pan for blancmange. She was clearly deranged and she has scarred me for life.
JP
July 23, 2021 at 7:41 PM
Urspo
Yikes! I do not know what a blancmange is but it doesn’t sound good.
July 23, 2021 at 4:22 PM
Pat
The margarita one appeals to me. Freezes well if you want to spread out the enjoyment timeline and not your waistline. May have to add a few specifics to your weekly shop. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/margarita-cake/
July 23, 2021 at 7:42 PM
Urspo
Another lovely to try! thank you !
July 23, 2021 at 8:05 PM
janiejunebug
I see above that you’ve been provided with a recipe. Let me know if you want the Cake Dr. chocolate Bundt recipe. It’s quite good and does not require frosting. I think Jell-O molds are usually plastic, but I suppose a Bundt pan could be used. I haven’t eaten Jell-O since I was a child because I think it’s kind of icky. I remember Mother making a Bundt when I was a teen. We sat down to try it and something was very wrong. She had confused cinnamon with cocoa.
Love,
Janie
July 23, 2021 at 8:22 PM
Urspo
Of course I want the recipe! No harm trying.
July 25, 2021 at 8:37 AM
janiejunebug
Darn Good Chocolate Cake (and it is)
1 package plain* devil’s food or dark chocolate fudge cake mix
1 package chocolate instant pudding
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Mist Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray. Dust with flour.** Place all ingredients except chocolate chips in mixing bowl and blend with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Set mixer on medium and beat 2-3 minutes more. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 45-50 minutes.
*The Cake Doctor prefers a cake mix without pudding. She says adding the pudding separately makes a richer, moister cake. I usually use Duncan Hines cake mix.
**I never dust pans with flour. Mother didn’t approve.
July 23, 2021 at 9:06 PM
wcs
So many comments! About Bundt cake! My B. pan is of the silicon variety. It gets used maybe once a year.
July 24, 2021 at 5:54 AM
Urspo
I’ve notice ‘food’ entries get the most comments. we all relate to cooking/eating.
August 1, 2021 at 4:45 AM
Autolycus
Somewhat late to this party, but how about this for a simple recipe (skip the intro bits):
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jun/28/rachel-roddy-recipe-chocolate-chip-yoghurt-ring-cake
Worked well enough for me in a loaf tin.
August 1, 2021 at 9:43 AM
Urspo
thank you!