Observed annually on the 15^th of November, National Bundt (Pan) Day is a holiday that not only celebrates bundt cakes but also the pans that these delicious cakes are cooked in. Bundt cakes come in a variety of different flavors and are made with a variety of different ingredients.

The only thing that unites these thousands of recipes is the doughnut-shape of the cakes that are created by the bundt pans that they are cooked in. These cakes became popular during the 1950-s and 1960s in North America, but the origins of these cakes actually go back to Europe and owe their existence to a European cake known as Gugelhupf.

The History Of National Bundt (Pan) Day

In St.Louis Park, Minnesota, H.David Dalquist and his brother Mark co-founded the cookware company Nordic Ware in the late 1940s. They were approached by Fannie Shanfield and Rose Joshua who were members of the Minneapolis Jewish-American Hadassah Society. They asked the company if they could produce a modern version of the cast iron pan used to make Gugelhupf. Nordic Ware created a cast-aluminum version They added a small “t” to the word “bund” in order to trademark it.

At first, this pan didn’t sell very well, and Nordic Ware thought about discontinuing it. Then in 1963, the New Good Housekeeping Cookbook mentioned it. Although that gave the pans a little bit of a sales boost, bundt pans wouldn’t become popular until 1966. this is when Ella Helfrich took second place in the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off with her recipe Tunnel Of Fudge. She won $5000, but it was the pan who became the real winner. After this competition, 200,000 requests for bundt pans rolled in.

National Bundt (Pan) Day was created to mark the 60^th anniversary of the creation of this pan and is celebrated on November 15th—the day that pan was invented. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Observing National Bundt (Pan) Day

Break out your favorite bundt pan and make some bundt cakes for this holiday. There are literally thousands of recipes to choose from, so choose one that suits your tastes and bake it for the entire family to enjoy.