Probably, yes, if you bake more than once or twice a year. Cheap Bundt tins tend to be thin pressed steel, and thin tins brown the outside of a dense cake before the middle is done. The Nordic Ware Anniversary is cast aluminium, which is a different thing altogether.
Why cast aluminium makes a difference
A Bundt cake is thick and heavy, with a lot of batter packed into a ring. Heat has to get through it evenly or you end up with dark ridges and a damp band near the tube. Cast aluminium is heavy and spreads heat well, so the whole cake bakes at the same pace. The hollow centre helps too, because it gets heat into the middle of the cake from the inside.
It also holds the shape of the flutes really crisply. The Anniversary design is a swirl of sharp ridges, and a thin tin just can’t give you edges that clean.
It’s the 12-cup size, which is what most Bundt recipes are written for, so you won’t need to scale anything. It’s made in the USA, has a non-stick coating inside, and there are little handles on the rim. Those handles sound like nothing until you’re flipping a hot, heavy cake with oven gloves on. Nordic Ware backs it with a lifetime warranty, and also says you can use it for jellies or frozen desserts, so it could earn its keep in summer too. You can see the Anniversary tin on Amazon UK here.
Will it stick?
Non-stick or not, grease it properly. This is where most Bundt disasters happen. Brush every ridge with melted butter or cake release spray, using a pastry brush so you get into the creases, then dust with flour (or cocoa for a chocolate cake) and tap out the excess.
Then let the cake sit in the tin for about ten minutes after it comes out of the oven. Too soon and it breaks. Leave it until it’s fully cold and it can stick. Ten minutes and then flip.
I’d hand wash it rather than putting it in the dishwasher, too. A tin like this should last decades if you’re kind to it.
What to bake in it this winter
A gingerbread Bundt with a lemon drizzle running down the ridges. A chocolate and orange cake. A boozy fruit cake if you’ve missed the window for a proper Christmas cake. Even a plain vanilla sponge comes out looking like you made an effort.
Once it’s baked, here’s how to keep a Bundt cake fresh without squashing it.
Who shouldn’t bother
If you bake a Bundt once a year, a cheaper ring tin will do. It won’t look as sharp, but your family won’t complain. And if your oven runs hot, an oven thermometer will help more than any tin.
For regular bakers, though, this is the tin. It’s heavy, it bakes evenly and it should outlast most of the kitchen.
