The 5 Best Bundt Pans, Tested by Food & Wine

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60 pound cakes and monkey breads later, the winning bundt pan is clear.

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Food & Wine

Beginners and advanced bakers alike rejoice in finding a good bundt pan. Bundt cakes are easy to make, delicious, and customizable, and the best bundt pans (also called fluted cake pans) turn them out perfectly every time — whether you're baking a delicate coconut chiffon or a dense double-chocolate bundt cake. Plus, bundt pans are much more versatile than they get credit for, as they are great vessels for popular baked goods like monkey bread, pull-apart bread, jello, and even macaroni and cheese.

Similar to traditional cake pans, the variety of bundt pan designs and materials can make buying one daunting. There are aluminum, cast iron, silicone, steel, and more options, and each affects your baking differently. So, I narrowed down 12 of the top-rated pans on the market based on our previous tests, my baking experience, and some research. I tested them side by side in my kitchen, considering factors like heat distribution, nonstick coatings, and batter capacity. These five came out ahead as the best bundt pans to round out your collection of essential baking tools — including a few mini and cakelet pans for easy entertaining and home-baked food gifts.

Bundt originates from bund, a German word with several loose English translations like security bond, boundary, or alliance. Around 1950, the young husband and wife founders of Nordic Ware, Dave and Dotty Dalquist of Minnesota, coined the name suffixed by a “t” and designed the pan at the request of local members of a Jewish women's organization. The group wanted a pan for the central European cake called Gugelhupf — or bundkuchen in parts of Germany. Nordic Ware invented the bundt pan as a lightweight, modern alternative to the heavy ceramic cookware traditionally used to make Gugelhupf. The design was simple: a round tube-shaped loaf with a hollow center and a decorative, fluted pattern around the body.

This bundt pan has superior nonstick properties and inexpensive pricing.

It doesn’t have handles for easier carrying.

With the Calphalon bundt pan, you don’t have to worry about whether or not your cake will release. This was the only pan I tested that released pound cake and monkey bread with no sticking whatsoever. Its lightweight, aluminized steel construction is foiled by a two-tone interlocking nonstick surface, which Calphalon claims helps promote even baking and releases your stickiest cakes and breads.

In testing, I found the fluted design creates sharp corners that run completely from the inner tube to the outer edge. Plus, the pan helped form a tall-looking bundt cake with beautiful browning and an evenly baked crumb. The Calphalon is a solid, superiorly nonstick bundt pan large enough for a 12-cup bundt cake. Not to mention, this pan was one of the least expensive I tested. Given its performance, size, and eye-catching low price, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal.

Material: Aluminized steel | Capacity: 12 cups | Weight: 1.1 pounds | Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 3.5 inches | Maximum Temperature: 450°F | Dishwasher-safe: No

It’s more durable than other pans and bakes crispy-edged cakes.

Cast iron is more cumbersome to clean and care for than nonstick bundt pans.

Cast iron cookware is commonly touted as great for searing steaks and hard-frying eggs, so it’s only natural that it makes wonderful, crispy pound cakes, too. While its price may seem steep, the Lodge cast iron bundt pan is the only dish on this list without a nonstick coating, making it an heirloom-quality investment with a lifetime warranty.

This handled bundt pan’s weight is expertly distributed to feel light and maneuverable, even though its cast iron build is noticeably heavier than any other pan I tested. The deep-black color of the pan — unlike that of dark nonstick bakeware — did not cause the pound cake or monkey bread to overbake. Rather, I would have adjusted the baking time to be a few minutes longer in this pan for darker cake results. The size is compact and sufficient with a 13-cup capacity and a sharp fluted mold you’ll love to see transfer onto your cakes.

One thing to be aware of is that the cleaning process with a newly purchased Lodge bundt pan is tedious. Nevertheless, cast iron’s nonstick properties only improve over time with the correct cleaning and care.

Material: Cast iron | Capacity: 13 cups | Weight: 9.53 pounds | Dimensions: 11.68 x 9.81 x 4.31 inches | Maximum Temperature: 650°F | Dishwasher-safe: No

This high-capacity bundt pan creates cakes with very sharp edges.

The handles are smaller than we’d like.

As the “Bundt” trademark holder, Nordic Ware is no doubt the most iconic bundt pan manufacturer. To no surprise, its Anniversary-edition bundt pan earned high scores in my tests. Built from cast aluminum with a 15-cup capacity, this bundt pan is the largest I tested. It’s taller than most pans and has a noticeably sturdy, heavy-gauge center tube that helps achieve even baking.

Through my pound cake test, I found this pan to be magnificently nonstick: I could count exactly five individual cake crumbs left on the nonstick interior after release. The finished bundt cake had unmatchedly sharp, crusty edges with minimal to no unintended caramelization. Compared to other pans, I would extend the baking time by a few minutes to ensure the interior is fully cooked. This pan fell short of our best overall pick only due to its nonstick performance with monkey bread. A couple of pieces of dough stuck to the pan, although it was easy to piece back together.

With its 20-year warranty, large capacity, and sharp-edged design, the Nordic Ware Platinum Anniversary Bundt Pan is an easy investment you can use for anything, whether it’s shaped macaroni and cheese or pound cakes.

Material: Cast aluminum | Capacity: 10-15 cups | Weight: 1.9 pounds | Dimensions: 12 x 10.5 x 4.5 inches | Maximum Temperature: 400°F | Dishwasher-safe: Hand wash recommended

Nonstick carbon steel bakes up 12 tall and fluffy cakes in this effective mini bundt pan.

The mold designs are too intricate to transfer well onto the finished cakes.

As it turns out, Le Creuset, best known for its indomitable enamelware, also makes an excellent carbon steel mini bundt pan. This 12-cavity bakeware features bright orange silicone knobs on wide rims for easy carrying. Le Creuset claims its mini bundt pan won’t overbake your cakes even with its dark color, and my testing confirmed this. Out of all the bundt pans, small and large, this mini bundt pan offered the crustiest exteriors on pound cake without overbaking the interior. The only downside of this piece of equipment is that the decorative molds were too intricate for my heavier pound cake batters to handle.

During the testing process, I initially filled each cavity about halfway, and this proved to be ineffective in this pan. (I essentially baked up 12 mini cake donuts.) In the latter half of testing, I felt encouraged to fill the cavities almost to capacity, and the cakes came out tall, fluffy, and deliciously crusty. Not to mention, each cake released effortlessly. All in all, this pan can handle a lot of cake dough without becoming an overflowing mess.

Material: Carbon steel, silicone | Capacity: 12 cups | Weight: 1.78 pounds | Dimensions: 15.7 x 11.8 x 1.5 inches | Maximum Temperature: 475°F | Dishwasher-safe: No | Cavities: 12

This pan yields six small cakes with a tender crumb and slightly crispy edges.

Crumbs often stick to the center tube.

Wilton’s nonstick mini bundt pan is reliable and easy to maneuver. Made of nonstick-coated steel, the pan has six cavities and holds about four to five cups of batter (a third of the usual bundt cake recipe). The pan is a light, silvery grey, but the cakelets baked up almost perfectly. The cakes in both tests stuck to this pan’s center tubes, but this didn’t result in an unpleasant finished look on the cakelets, which had fairly sharp fluted edges and a crispy crust.

My primary concern with this pan is its capacity. You’ll want to buy two or three if you’re a serious baker who makes 12-cup bundt cake recipes often. Otherwise, you’ll have to third your normal bundt cake or 9-by-13-inch recipes to fit these molds without excess. A bit of extra math here was no problem for me since this pan baked the most tender cakes among all our tested models.

Material: Steel | Capacity: 5 cups | Weight: 1.12 pounds | Dimensions: 16.5 x 10.5 x 1.75 inches | Maximum Temperature: 450°F | Dishwasher-safe: Yes, hand wash recommended | Cavities: Six

The Calphalon Classic Bakeware Fluted Cake Pan won Best Overall in my testing for its unbeatable nonstick ability. Its tall mold design, interlocking color system, and relative affordability were pluses, too. I also highly recommend the Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt Pan for its uniquely sharp edges and versatile capacity.

Food & Wine has completed two sets of tests on 17 total top-rated bundt cake pans. In our first tests, we found and evaluated five bundt pans for their performance and value based on pound cake and jello cake tests. In our most recent iteration, we determined 12 of the best bundt pans on the market, which I compared side by side in several categories.

After fully testing each product, I weighed the bundt pans’ performance against their monetary value. At the time of testing, the average price of our selected bundt pans was $31, ranging from about $15 to $80.

The material of your bundt pan can seriously affect the baking process. Heavier constructions like cast iron and cast aluminum offer exceptionally even heating and may require longer baking times. They also tend to create crispier crusts on cakes. Lighter steel, aluminum, or ceramic builds quickly react to heat, and I found pans of these constructions yielded darker, more caramelized cake crusts with a softer feel. There is also the option of silicone molds, but those are better suited for mini bundt cakes, as large bundt cakes need a heat-conductive central tube for even baking.

Generally, light-colored pans create more evenly baked cakes with a lighter crust — extending the baking time is a quick fix for a crispier crust here. Dark-colored pans tend to bake the exterior of a cake quickly, leaving the interior prone to underbaking. For these pans, a good rule of thumb is to lower the temperature by 25°F and extend the baking time.

I also tested pans with interlocking color systems: What might merely look like a sparkly nonstick coating can really be a two-tone surface to help with even baking. Other bundt pans like the Cuisinart have a dark exterior and light cavity, though I found this still leads to an overbaked exterior.

The nonstick coating of a bundt pan is like a baker’s makeup foundation: It’s the base for the rest of your nonstick material, whether that’s baking spray, oil and flour, or butter and cocoa powder. A basic nonstick surface releases cooked cake batter easily, leaving minimal crumbs with no need to spatula the sides of your bundt pan. An even better nonstick coating will go as far as releasing cooled, sticky bits of butter and sugar from its surface with no issue. An exceptional bundt pan will do all of this for years and years.

Arguably the most prevalent reason for making bundt cakes, the fluting plays a huge role in the form and function of your bundt pan. Not only does the fluted mold imprint a beautiful, sharp-edged, and curved design onto baked goods, but also it can make or break the nonstick surface. During my tests, even the best nonstick surfaces were less effective when they had especially deep crevices. Deep fluting can also become a hindrance when greasing, flouring, and cleaning the pans.

Twelve cups is the most common capacity for bundt pans, which are usually manufactured to fit 10- to 12-cup cake recipes (just shy of a 9 by 13 cake mix). All the full-sized bundt pans on our list have at least 12-cup capacities and fit pound cake and monkey bread easily. If you want more wiggle room in your pan, the largest pan we tested has a 15-cup capacity, which worked well in testing. Pans with multiple cavities like mini bundt pans and cakelet pans have capacities around 4 to 6 cups. When considering these pans, keep in mind that you may have to halve recipes or buy multiple pans.

Size is also important for bundt pans. While a 12-cup capacity is standard, the width and depth of each pan can differ. In testing, I observed whether each pan distributed weight well for convenient maneuvering. I also paid close attention to the height and gauge of the center tubes, as these play an important role in even baking for bundt pans. I also made note of the overall height and whether that caused problems when releasing cake and monkey bread during testing.

Although originally designed for cakes, bundt pans are more versatile than you might think. Besides delicate bread doughs, bundt pans can bake almost any recipe that would fit a loaf pan, including quick breads, pull-apart breads, and casseroles. Jello cakes and holiday side dishes are also popular applications of the bundt pan. We even use bundt pans as ice rings for batch cocktails.

You’ll want to stay away from very delicate recipes like angel food cake that don’t take well to the deep edges and the harsh — sometimes impact-heavy — releasing process associated with bundt cakes.

Start with your cooled bundt cake in the pan held in one hand. Use your other hand to place your cake board or serving plate upside down, over the bundt pan cavity (covering the base of your cake). Carefully flip the cake on top and the platter on the bottom. If you’ve greased your bundt pan correctly, your cake should release completely from the pan with no issues.

If your cake still sticks to the pan, you can run an offset spatula between the cake and the pan, then repeat the previous steps. Sometimes, the cake will not release due to overcooling. In this instance, use a kitchen torch to heat the outside of the bundt pan to help release the fat and sugar from the surface.

The most common method of ensuring your cake has a perfect release is greasing and flouring your bundt pan. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, rub the entire cavity of your bundt pan with butter or a neutral oil like canola or peanut, ensuring that the decorative crevices are covered in a light layer of fat. You should not see any clumps of butter or pools of oil. Then, drop one or two tablespoons of all-purpose flour (or cocoa powder, depending on the recipe) into the cavity. Over a sink, basin, or trash bin, tap and rotate the bundt pan until all the butter or oil is coated with the flour completely.

For a quick alternative to greasing and flouring, search for nonstick baking spray — a cooking spray that contains flour — in your local grocery store. Never use regular nonstick cooking spray on a bundt pan. Cooking sprays contain oils, non-foaming agents, and emulsifiers that can cake onto your bundt pan and inhibit its nonstick properties when not combined with starch like flour.

Nordic Ware Pro Cast Original Bundt Pan ($36 at Amazon)

For all intents and purposes, the Nordic Ware Pro Cast bundt pan is a reliable device. Compared to the other bundt pans on this list, its average nonstick performance and lack of handles lowered its rank.

Anolon Advanced Nonstick Fluted Mold Baking Pan ($25 at Amazon)

I loved the Analon’s silicone grips on this bundt pan. I was underwhelmed, however, by its fluting and baking performance among some other stellar performers in my tests.

Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Anniversary Bundtlette Pan ($50 at Amazon)

This Nordic Ware Bundtlette pan has a sharp design made from durable cast aluminum. Unfortunately, I found that these pans tend to stick around halfway up each mold, which affected the final look of each cakelet.

The bundt pans that didn’t pass my tests generally have similar characteristics. Bundt pans I tested from brands like Cuisinart, Wilton, and Williams Sonoma were thinner than the winners, very reactive to heat, and therefore burnt or nearly burnt pound cakes. Others like that from USA Pan were constructed of heavy-gauge metal but had underbaked and inconsistent results.

Dillon Evans is a Food & Wine Update Writer, certified cake decorator, and lifelong home baker. He grew up learning to make cakes, like sour cream bundt cakes and crusty caramel layer cakes, under his mother and grandmother. Over the last eight years, he has baked and decorated countless cakes — from mini bundts to tiered wedding cake — and used his experience to test for the best bundt pans.