Back in the day, I was rabidly classist when it came to my batterie de cuisine. It took a Bundt pan, the workhorse of the hoi polloi, to bitch-slap the bigot out of me.
I always use a Bundt pan when I bake banana bread and the like. I abhor a sticky middle. Banana bread baked in this way cuts the baking time in half compared to a loaf pan and the middle no longer exists so there is never any underdone center.
Wonderful anecdote with that beautiful touch of self-deprecation. I don’t much like chocolate with fruit, but the “touch of orange” sounds subtle and obviously this cake is a consistent hit with diners - and I’m an Ina Garten fan. It’s my birthday next week so maybe…
Love me a good bundt cake! Living in Minnesota, home of Nordic Ware and teaching cooking classes there, I welcome another Bundt convert into the fan club!! We have moved way beyond pudding mixes into browned butter, ganache, cardamom and more :)
Hi David, I've worked for Nordic Ware for 16 years and made hundreds of Bundts and created lots of recipes for new shapes. You can ask me anything. Baker's Joy is my best friend.
LoAnn, thanks! Since back then, I've bought a whole bunch. I love them!! For the Orange Olive Oil Cake from my cookbook and on my site, I recommend the 15-cup Bundt Anniversary pan! https://leit.es/orange-olive-oil
I love Bundt cakes, I make one about every other week. King Arthur has great recipes, among them the Mocha Pound Cake and the Cider Gingerbread Cake. I have two pans, and I just slather them with butter and the cakes come right out. No need for flour. I've never met anyone who scoffs at a Bundt cake, get out your pans and start baking!
Our family favorite birthday cake was a pudding box mix of yellow cake with a cherry almond frosting made in a bundt pan. I've moved on although Ina's cake sounds delicious. Thank you for your humor!
David!!! Your recipes may be perfect, but your story telling is CHEF’S KISS. No doubt you mixed and mingled seamlessly with the high brow Hollywood set, both with cake and class.
That was fun. It warms my heart when a classy professioal chef makes as much of a mess in the kitchen as I do. Usually for all the same reasons. Wish someone would invent flour that went where you wanted it to go. Maybe a flour with dog genes??
Boy, Bundt pans take me way back in time, when my poppy colored pan matched my refrigerator color! Haven’t used in years, but my mother was a devotee of the Galindo cake all her adult life. Funny article, David.
Absolutely love your storytelling, David. We should talk more about Bundts sometime. About QVC and Jamie Lee Curtis and how Bundts are a part of people’s lives, like them or not!
Bundts have come back with a vengeance recently. There are Nothing But Bundts shops that sell mini Bundts the size of cupcakes for $5.50 and full-size for $31! A friend recently said I should open a bakery. That's not gonna happen but I'm shocked by the prices. I have a 50 yo pan and my grandmother's pan that makes six minis.
Ina for the win everytime!
If she ever visits, you can move those Bundt pans confidently front and centre.
Agreed, Sheryl!
I always use a Bundt pan when I bake banana bread and the like. I abhor a sticky middle. Banana bread baked in this way cuts the baking time in half compared to a loaf pan and the middle no longer exists so there is never any underdone center.
Thanks for the tip, Jan!
Wonderful anecdote with that beautiful touch of self-deprecation. I don’t much like chocolate with fruit, but the “touch of orange” sounds subtle and obviously this cake is a consistent hit with diners - and I’m an Ina Garten fan. It’s my birthday next week so maybe…
You'll love it, Carrie!
Love me a good bundt cake! Living in Minnesota, home of Nordic Ware and teaching cooking classes there, I welcome another Bundt convert into the fan club!! We have moved way beyond pudding mixes into browned butter, ganache, cardamom and more :)
WHERE'S MY INVITATION!??
I live and would die by all of my Nordic Ware baby bunt pans! No pan brings me more joy 🌟
I hear you. I made my Portuguese Orange Olive Oil Cake from my cookbook in it. https://leitesculinaria.com/20321/recipes-portuguese-orange-olive-oil-cake.html
Totally excited to try your recipe! I did a Meyer lemon olive oil cake in mine. Was delicious!
That sounds awesome!!
Hi David, I've worked for Nordic Ware for 16 years and made hundreds of Bundts and created lots of recipes for new shapes. You can ask me anything. Baker's Joy is my best friend.
LoAnn, thanks! Since back then, I've bought a whole bunch. I love them!! For the Orange Olive Oil Cake from my cookbook and on my site, I recommend the 15-cup Bundt Anniversary pan! https://leit.es/orange-olive-oil
I love Bundt cakes, I make one about every other week. King Arthur has great recipes, among them the Mocha Pound Cake and the Cider Gingerbread Cake. I have two pans, and I just slather them with butter and the cakes come right out. No need for flour. I've never met anyone who scoffs at a Bundt cake, get out your pans and start baking!
Lisa, sounds wonderful!!
Our family favorite birthday cake was a pudding box mix of yellow cake with a cherry almond frosting made in a bundt pan. I've moved on although Ina's cake sounds delicious. Thank you for your humor!
My pleasure, Roxanne!
David!!! Your recipes may be perfect, but your story telling is CHEF’S KISS. No doubt you mixed and mingled seamlessly with the high brow Hollywood set, both with cake and class.
Why, thank you, Erin!
What an epic disclosure. Love this!
Thanks!
That was fun. It warms my heart when a classy professioal chef makes as much of a mess in the kitchen as I do. Usually for all the same reasons. Wish someone would invent flour that went where you wanted it to go. Maybe a flour with dog genes??
Ha!! Oh, yes. I'm a hot mess in the kitchen. The One always cringes when he cleans up after me.
Sorry. Auto-corrected. The Galliano cake. Grrr.
Boy, Bundt pans take me way back in time, when my poppy colored pan matched my refrigerator color! Haven’t used in years, but my mother was a devotee of the Galindo cake all her adult life. Funny article, David.
Thanks, Barbara! That's a new cake to me; just looked it up!
Absolutely love your storytelling, David. We should talk more about Bundts sometime. About QVC and Jamie Lee Curtis and how Bundts are a part of people’s lives, like them or not!
I would love that, Ann!!
Your aversion to bundts is the same as cakes made in a 9 x 13 Pyrex pan. The poke cake give me the shivers.
Ha!!!!
Bundts have come back with a vengeance recently. There are Nothing But Bundts shops that sell mini Bundts the size of cupcakes for $5.50 and full-size for $31! A friend recently said I should open a bakery. That's not gonna happen but I'm shocked by the prices. I have a 50 yo pan and my grandmother's pan that makes six minis.
Dottie, you SHOULD open a bakery!