Bundt Pan Creator Dies

H. David Dalquist, who invented the world-famous Bundt cake pan in 1950, died last Sunday, January 2, in Edina, Minnesota at 86.

He founded Nordic Ware, maker of the Bundt pan, after returning home from Navy duty in World War II.

The company has sold more than 50 million Bundt pans, making it the top-selling cake pan in the world.

Dalquist designed the pan at the request of the Minneapolis chapter of the Hadassah Society.

They had old ceramic cake pans of somewhat similar designs but wanted an aluminum pan.

Dalquist created a new shape and added regular folds for easy cake-cutting.

The women from the society called the pans "bund pans" because "bund" is German for a gathering of people.

Dalquist added a "t" to the end of "bund" and trademarked the name.

For many years, the pans didn't sell very well.

That changed in 1966, when a Texas woman won second place in the Pillsbury Bake-Off for her Tunnel of Fudge cake made in a Bundt pan.

Suddenly, bakers across America wanted their own Tunnel of Fudge cakes, and Bundt pans were a must.

It's now the single biggest product line for Nordic Ware, with more than a million Bundt pans sold each year.