The best bundt cake tins tried and tested

In America, bundt cake tins are very popular and there is a huge variety of shapes.

Now they're gaining in popularity in the UK with a wide range of recipes available on the internet for baking them, including our own bundt cake recipes, of course.

However, the majority of those online recipes will be American, so you'll need cups or the ability to convert cups to metric/imperial measurements.

There is no reason you can't use a standard cake recipe, though be aware that most bundt cake tins are bigger than regular ones so you might need to make some adjustments.

Read on to discover our favourite bundt cake tins – and for over 200 buyer's guides, visit our reviews section to read reviews of everything from stand mixers to baking trays.

Nordic Ware Crown Bundt® Pan

Best bundt cake tin for wow factor

Pros:

• Eye-catching results
• Detailed instructions

Cons:

• Expensive

This tin is so beautifully crafted, it would even look fabulous as a serving dish. Nordic Ware are the king of bundt cake tins (they even trademarked the name) and the packaging tells you a little of the history, including that they were first made in the 1950s. There are also detailed instructions on how to use and care for the pan.

Our crown-shaped tin came complete with a delicious-sounding cinnamon swirl and toasted pecan bundt recipe, with many more recipes available on the website. However, (unsurprisingly, given that it is manufactured in the US), the recipes use American measures like cups, as well as some unfamiliar ingredients like kosher salt. There's also a UK Facebook page which might be more user-friendly for a domestic audience.

We brushed the tin with melted butter and dusted it with flour, as instructed, before pouring in our cake mixture – a lemon zest and poppy seed bundt cake from the Nordic Ware website. Once baked, we left it precisely 10 minutes before tipping it out. It took a few gentle shakes to get the cake out but it fell out cleanly.

The detailing on the cake was brilliant with sharp peaks and a leaf-shaped pattern – definitely showstopping. We had some very impressed guests with this one!

Available from Royal Design (£38)

Le Creuset Kugelhopf cake tin

Best bundt cake tin for a party

Pros:

• Good shape
• Lifetime guarantee

Cons:

• Large capacity means adapting some recipes

This Le Creuset tin is bigger than many of the others we tested. We had to add extra batter to our chocolate & almond marbled bundt cake recipe or we wouldn't have been able to see the full pattern. Of course, that also means it makes a sizeable cake – the ideal centrepiece for a party.

It's a tin designed with longevity in mind, backed up by a lifetime guarantee, as long as you treat it properly. It's sturdy and solid, without being too heavy. It's thoughtfully designed, too, with a wide brim that you can use to lift it in and out of the oven, and comes complete with Le Creuset branded silicone inserts. The tin is also easy to grip when it's being turned upside-down to turn out a cake. You can put it in the freezer, too.

There is nothing in the instructions about buttering or oiling the tin, so we decided to risk it and see if the non-stick surface did its job – which it did. Our cake turned out very easily, practically falling out once we held it upside-down. The definition is excellent, too, with a pattern that extends to the bottom edges.

Available from Amazon (£31.54)

Tala bundt tin

Best value bundt cake tin

Pros:

• Great price
• Long guarantee

Cons:

• No recipes included

This is a well made, sizeable tin designed to last and comes with a 10-year guarantee. It can go in the freezer and the dishwasher (though handwashing is recommended).

Although there are clear instructions, including the need to butter or oil the tin before use, no recipes were included. The packaging directs you to recipes on the Tala website, but we only found one specifically for a bundt cake, which didn't appeal. So we tested this using a standard ginger cake recipe, which we doubled because of the size of the pan.

The cake cooked evenly and released easily. It was a good shape, with well defined markings on the top and a pattern around the base, too. The markings would tempt you to cut very large slices, which may or may not be a good thing.

Available from Divertimenti (£15)

Buyer's advice

Which bundt cake tin should I buy?

Price is a big factor here – our sample ranged from just under £8 to nearly £50. More expensive models usually come with a long guarantee.

Size is important. Some of our samples were smaller than others and would only serve four or so. The biggest ones are perfect if you're catering for the masses. You can also get tins that will make individual bundts.

Also, think about the aesthetics. We tried varieties that had a simple ring shape all the way to a detailed crown. Do you just want a cake that's a bit different, or a showstopper? You can buy bundt cake tins in all manner of shapes, including special ones for Christmas. If you're thinking about versatility, often, just a drizzle of icing over the peaks of a regular bundt cake can give you the festive effect of snow-capped mountains.

What we looked for in a bundt cake tin

Ease of release: Your cake will lack the desired effect if it gets stuck to the sides. We looked for tins that allowed a cake to be turned out easily.

Defined markings: We wanted tins that produced a clear pattern or design on the cake.

Ease of cleaning: Washing up after baking can be a pain, especially with a ridged mould, so tins that didn't keep us at the sink too long got extra points.

Value for money: Lower cost tins that produced showstopping results and slightly dearer ones, where extra features were justified, scored well.

Bundt cake recipes

Pineapple passion bundt
Chocolate & almond marbled bundt cake
Soured cream bundt cake with butter glaze
Banana & choc bundt cake with peanut caramel drizzle
Blood orange & olive oil bundt cake
Jamaican ginger beer & pineapple bundt cake
All our best bundt cake recipes

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This review was last updated in August 2020. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.