Cakes are an all-time delight to everyone. You can’t consider a special occasion complete without these sweet treats, be it birthdays, anniversaries, or weddings.
But have you ever heard of bundt cakes? These donut-shaped desserts are typically drizzled with glaze or sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Curious about bundt cakes? Read on, and let’s talk about bundt cakes, their history, appearance, ingredients, and how they are different from regular cakes.
What Are Bundt Cakes?
Bundt cakes are cakes baked on a specific type of baking mold. Unlike regular baking pans, a bundt cake pan has a decorative element to its structure.
Bundt cakes are typically ring-shaped with fluted edges owed to these special pans. However, you can also find bundt pans with different designs, shapes, and sizes.
Bundt Cakes vs. Regular Cakes
So, how are bundt cakes different from regular cakes?
Appearance
The pan is the primary aspect differentiating bundt cakes from regular cakes. So, to identify a bundt cake in a group of cakes, look for their appearance.
Bundt cakes are donut shapes with decorative (usually fluted) sides. They already look fantastic, so they don’t require as many embellishments as your typical Tuesday cake.
Ingredients
While called differently, bundt and regular cakes mostly use the same ingredients. So, you won’t have to worry about learning to cook a bundt cake from scratch.
Most cakes use five primary ingredients: eggs, flour, sugar, fat, and leavening. And these ingredients remain present when baking these stylish cake deserts.
Taste
The taste of bundt cakes will mostly depend on your recipe. However, there are qualities in these cakes you can’t find on a regular cake.
For instance, the shape of the bundt pan makes these cakes denser. So, they’re typically thicker in flavor than springy and airy sponge cakes.
Bundt cakes are lovely and moist, with more crispy edges than typical-shaped cakes.
Cooking
Compared to other cake recipes, bundt cakes are easier to cook. Because of the pan’s structure, these cakes are less prone to burning or undercooking.
Although, you’ll need to watch the moisture level of your bundt cake.
There will be more cake surfaces touching the heated pan. So greasing and flouring every nook and cranny of the pan is necessary to remove the cake easily once cooked.
A Brief History of Bundt Cakes
Bundt cakes are delicious treats indeed. But when and where did these delicacies originate?
Where Did Bundt Cakes Originate?
We can trace the origins of bundt cakes to H. David Dalquist Sr. The American engineer owned a small company manufacturing industrial aluminum products in the 1950s.
While developing his craft of aluminum casting, Dalquist began extending the trade to kitchen wares, particularly cake pans.
That said, bundt cakes started when Dalquist Sr. was commissioned for a job. His customers wanted to replicate “Kugelhopf,” a ceramic German baking pan popular in Europe.
So, Dalquist cast an improved version of the ceramic baking mold out of heavy aluminum. He added the product to his company’s line of bakeware.
Dalquist’s cake pan sold pretty well in the first decade after its creation. The cakes made from the pan were even featured in several women’s magazines.
The demand for the unique baking mold took off 20 years after—when Dalquist made a lightweight aluminum version of his cake pan. His creation became the pan we now use to make delicious bundt cakes.
Why Do We Call Them Bundt Cakes?
H. David Dalquist Sr. decided to trademark his invention of a cake pan. Given the German roots of the design, he named it “Bundt” from the German word “bundkuchen.”
Bundkuchen means “a cake for gathering” in the German language. And isn’t that exactly what cakes cooked in bundt pans do?
Tips When Baking Bundt Cakes
Cooking bundt cakes can be challenging for first-timers. So, here are some tips you can follow to perfect your bundt cake recipe:
Tip #1: Preparing the Pan
Before baking, grease the inside of the pan with a shortener. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour and spread the mixture evenly in every nook and corner of the pan.
Head to the sink and turn the bundt pan upside-down to remove excess flour. Gently shake or tap the pan to quicken the process.
Tip #2: Filling the Pan
Bubbles in your batter can create air pockets that cause uneven crumbs in a cake. So, you’d want to lessen or prevent air bubbles from forming in your batter if you can.
It’s best to spoon your batter into the pan instead of pouring. Gently tap the outside of the bundt pan to break any air bubbles formed in the mixture.
Final Thoughts
To recap, bundt cakes are baked on a ring-like pan with decorative sides. So, unlike regular cylindrical cakes, you get a classy, delicious donut-shaped treat.
These cakes are slightly thicker and tastier, with a few changes in the baking process. They’ll make the perfect dessert for your next family dinner!
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.