H.D. Dalquist, 86, Invented Bundt Pan
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H. David Dalquist, creator of the aluminum Bundt pan, the top-selling cake pan in the world, died Sunday at 86 at his home at Edina, Minn.
Dalquist founded Nordic Ware, which has sold more than 50 million Bundt pans, which create firm, round cakes with a hole in the middle.
Dalquist designed the pan in 1950 at the request of members 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 to make it easier to cut the cake.
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. So all Bundt pans and Bundt cakes stem from Dalquist.
In 1966, 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.
