Welcome to King Arthur Flour's Year of the Bundt! We've been celebrating this classic American dessert with a variety of recipes and tips over the past few months, but right now we'd like to turn the microphone over to you, our readers and fellow bakers.
What’s your favorite memory of baking with a Bundt? Is it making a cake for a loved one? Working with an inherited pan? Trying a new recipe or mastering an old one?
We asked for your stories on our Facebook page, and you guys delivered! Here's a few of our favorites – tales of family, feasts, and hilarious defeats. Enjoy!
King cobra birthday Bundt by Jamie Best Reinke
My son turned 7 at the end of February and requested a king cobra birthday cake (left, above). My mom is a great decorator so she and I started figuring out how we could make this work. We took some pointers from TV shows and finally used 3 bundt cakes cut in half to make the snake curve. He loved his cake!! And we had a lot of fun making it for him too!
The great snake cake by Kallee Krong-McCreery
I still have my grandmother’s "classic blood orange" color pan. Every time I bake with it, I am connected to her. She made the tunnel of fudge recipe that was all the rage in the 1960s. That pan still bakes as well today as it did 55 years ago. I will pass it on to my daughter one day, along with grandma's recipes. I even used it to make a "snake cake" (right, above) for my grandson's birthday, by cutting in the right places.
Marriage and Bundt baking by Grant Kennell
My wife, Kerry, and I baked this cake as part of our wedding ceremony. We got married in our kitchen because my parents had been injured in a car accident and couldn't travel so we brought the wedding to them. We like to cook and thought creating something together to share with our guests would be fun.
We set the KitchenAid mixer on a festively decorated table along with all the ingredients carefully measured in two portions. While our officiant talked about marriage, we mixed the cake batter, then said our vows, exchanged rings, put the cake in the oven, kissed, and changed our Facebook relationship statuses.
We chose this pan because of the dramatic angles; we both like Art Deco. Flo Braker's lavender lemon cake turned out perfectly, a beautiful and delicious expression of the day.
We used, no lie, King Arthur all-purpose flour. The structure and crumb are perfect; cake flour would be too soft, I think
Western Bundt by Melanie Mitchell
Cookie: "Howdy friends, love King Arthur Flour, makes the best Doggone cakes in the West!!" Tex Drooling: "Yep, can't wait to try this one!!" This is Caramel Praline Kentucky Butter Cake, baked in my antique 1800s gate-marked bundt pan!! Delicious gooey goodness!!! Bake on, friends!!
A special treat with Grandma by Frederic Morris
This is Granny's favorite pound cake; she would make it for special occasions. Granny would take us to Foley's in downtown Houston three times a year, and we would pick out one outfit and some undergarments; she always made the rest of our clothes. We would stop off at Woolworth’s and in the basement they had a delicatessen. We would order the pound cake and milk. They would butter it and brown it on the grill. It was amazing and such a special treat. We could not afford a lot but Granny allowed us this one treat that we carried on at home until she passed. Thanks for letting me share my story. —
Bundt disasters (we've all been there) by Paula Dannels
My first Bundt cake that I made by myself was a chocolate honey cake. The recipe called for a tube cake pan. I assumed any pan with a tunnel in the middle qualified as a tube cake pan — that is the story I gave. I knew it wasn't a tube cake pan, but I rolled the dice. What could go wrong?
What didn't go wrong! I had to change my spill-over pan partway through baking — it was full. Not the worst problem because when it was done, I found I had forgotten to add the oil the recipe called for; but it looked and smelled good, so that's OK, right?
Turns out that's fine. You see, I also forgot to grease the very fancy bundt pan with all the twists that was NOT a non-stick pan. So, it sat on a fire ant mound for 4 days while the ants cleaned the pan. Lesson learned!
But then... a Bundt success by Monica Soule
I have a long, sad history with Bundt cakes: burned, stuck, you name it, I've ruined it. But then I saw that pretty little Party Bundt on your website, and just couldn't resist. My first Bundt attempt in about 30 years was the Spooky Spider Cake, and it turned out perfectly! Best part was my grandsons’ wide eyes when they saw it!
Generations of baking with joy by Cristina Navarro
Baking makes me happy, literally. Taking a bunch of ingredients that would otherwise sit in their packaging individually doing nothing and making something out of them brings me joy. I especially love having a recipe down so that I can experiment with it and make it special for my family. Recently I was able to share that joy with my daughter as she was given a recipe at school that came out of a book. We used "grandma's tasty tomatoes" to make her super-secret chocolate cake. My daughter's excitement was the absolute best part of it all.
A Bundt cake sandwich by Michelle Kozin Hallock
My godmother was always very good to me, but very austere. Having a German family, having heard the struggles they all experienced during WW2, I somewhat understood even though I was just a little girl. She used to have me overnight sometimes, and I would be so scared that I wouldn't behave correctly. She bought me my first Barbie, then scolded me for brushing her hair too much. Love, but with limits.
All that changed one day, while my mom, sister and I were there for kaffee und kuchen. Tante Rose was known for her perfect marble bundt cakes, and today's was just as moist and swirly as ever. Then it happened: Tante Rose buttered a piece of rye bread, topped it with a piece of cake and tucked in. I couldn't believe it! She threw tradition to the wind. That was at least 30 years ago, but that bundt cake sandwich lives in my mind forever.
Dad to the rescue! by Robyn Wass
My daughter wanted a Moana cake for her birthday but no one would make it. My husband (who never bakes and hardly ever cooks) decided that he couldn't let his little girl down. So he used the bundt pan I got for 50¢ at a garage sale 16 years ago as a newlywed, and created the most beautiful cake :). Triple chocolate with chocolate ganache filled with red velvet pudding lava and a hard candy eruption! Love him!
A Bundt pan heirloom by Daniele Bird Krug
I have bundt pans in all shapes and sizes, but this one that belonged to my grandmother will always be my favorite. Her pound cake was the best. These days, I mostly make my grandmother-in-law's rum cake (one Christmas I made 13 of them). Any time I bake I feel like both of these wonderful women are with me.
A handwritten recipe, baked in remembrance by John Cornthwait
This past year, we lost my grandmother, Theo, who was well-known for her lemon pound cake that she always made in a bundt. Her recipe was the first I made in my celebration bundt pan (and it didn't stick!). At her memorial, we shared some very special takeaways. My dear friend John Reburn from Appalachia Press made custom-letterpressed recipe cards from Theo's original, handwritten recipe. And of course, her lemon pound cake was the centerpiece of all the food. And as Theo says, good luck!
And finally, the perfect finale to these paeans of praise for all things Bundt by Julie Estella
I have a bundt pan story. I was so tired of trying to get the cake out of the pan that I decided to change its function! After scraping my last cake out in multiple pieces, I washed the pan, dried it, and covered the hole with duct tape. My pan became a dog dish and I have never made another bundt cake. No regrets!
Have you enjoyed these Bundt memories? Please share your own in "comments," below. And be sure to check out this collection of some of our favorite Bundt cake recipes.
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