National Bundt Day Date in the current year: November 15, 2024

The term “Bundt cake” does not refer to a specific cake recipe. Any cake that is baked in a Bundt pan can be called a Bundt cake. A Bundt pan is a circular cake pan with a tube in the center that shapes the cake into a distinctive doughnut shape.

Bundt cake was inspired by Gugelhupf, a traditional yeast-leavened cake popular in Central Europe. In some parts of Germany, it is alternatively known as Bundkuchen. The first uses of the word “bund” (alternatively spend as “bundt”) outside of Europe to describe cakes date back to the early 20th century; they are found in Jewish-American cookbooks.

The person credited with popularizing Bundt cakes in the United States is H. David Dalquist, an American inventor and engineer who co-founded cookware company Nordic Ware with his wife Dorothy, his brother Mark, and his friend Donald Nygren in 1946. Dalquist designed the Bundt cake pan inspired by the Gugelhupf cake and trademarked the name in 1950.

The Bundt pan wasn’t an immediate success; in fact, it sold so poorly that Dalquist considered discontinuing it. The product gained wide attention and publicity in 1966, when Ella Helfrich took the second place in the Pillsbury Bake-Off with her “Tunnel of Fudge” cake baked in the Bundt pan. Very soon the Bundt pan became the most-sold cooking pan in the United States.

Since “Bundt” is a trademarked name, other manufacturers give their similar pans alternative descriptive names such as “fluted tube pan”. The Bundt pan is made of aluminum, but other tube style pans can be made of other materials, such as silicone. The central tube improves heat distribution for evenly baked cakes.

As we’ve already mentioned above, any cake baked in a Bundt pan or a similarly shaped pan is called a Bundt cake. Bundt molds can be used to bake yeast-leavened cakes, sponge cakes, cakes from a boxed cake mix, and other types of cake. They also can be used to mold ice cream, jello salad, and even meatloaf.

Nordic Ware established National Bundt Day in 2006 to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary. The date of November 15 was chosen to mark the beginning of the holiday baking season that kicks off just before Thanksgiving (because a lot of people bake decorated Bundt cakes during the holidays).

The best way to celebrate the holiday is, of course, to get out your Bundt pan or buy one and bake a cake. There are hundreds of recipes for you to experiment with, so pick one and get to work. Once your delicious cake is ready (and we’re 100% sure it will be delicious!), share it with your family or invite your friends over for a tea party. And don’t forget to snap a photo of your Bundt cake and share it on social media with the hashtag #NationalBundtDay to spread the word about the holiday.