Our Favorite Bundt Pans Create Intricate Cakes That Aren’t a Pain To Remove From the Pan

Best Overall

Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Anniversary Bundt Pan

$39 at Amazon $41 at Walmart $44 at Target

It might not come as a surprise to see that Nordic Ware, one of the leaders in bakeware and inventor of the Bundt pan, earned the spot of the best overall bundt pan on our list. Everything this brand makes is top-notch, but the Platinum Collection Bundt Pan raises the bar even higher. Its classic bundt pan design is made of heavy-duty die-cast aluminum, which is the reason it’s one of the heavier pans we tested. Before adding cake batter, the pan weighs about 1.71 pounds, which is a reasonable trade-off for excellent heat conduction and distribution across the entire cake.

During testing, the cakes came out perfectly browned and evenly cooked every time. The nonstick coating worked like a charm, even without any greasing, though it's recommended to use a baking spray with flour. After it cooled, the cake slid right out of the pan with the fluted edges beautifully intact. (If you find your cakes stick a lot, try Nordic Ware's finishing tool kit to gently release cake from the pan without scratching the surface.) We also like that this pan is designed with handles that extend from the edge of the pan, making it easier to grab the pan and place, turn, and remove it from the oven.

Nordic Ware offers a wide selection of bundt pans designs in five different sizes, with this 15-cup pan being the largest. When measuring with water, this pan held 15.5 cups, and about 7 ounces of cake batter more than any of the other cake pans we tested. We repeatedly scratched the inside surface to see how durable the nonstick coating is, and found that it can withstand a little wear and tear, but does show signs of abrasion on heavier scratches. It is also hand-wash only, but that will help protect the nonstick coating, so we won't complain too much.

Dimensions: 10.5 x 12 x 4.5 inches | Capacity: 10-15 cups

Best Design

Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Nonstick Bundt Pan

$40 at Amazon $40 at Walmart $50 at Williams-Sonoma

If you want to impress a crowd—or you just want really beautiful cakes to enjoy yourself—the Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Heritage Bundt Pan makes getting a high-end look really easy. Instead of the typical vertical fluting of most bundt pans, it has a swirling design that adds a touch of elegance to any cake you make.

But it’s not just pretty—it’s functional, too. This pan is made of Nordic Ware’s signature die-cast aluminum and nonstick coating, so we were able to create perfectly browned cakes that are easy to remove from the pan every time.

We’ve been using this pan since it first became available a dozen years ago, and it’s been a favorite. While it looks fancy and complicated, it’s actually a fairly simple design with clean, sharp lines, which means there’s less chance of destruction when it comes out of the pan. It is also impressive at cleanup—no crumbs get stuck in the ridges, so after a quick wipe down, it is ready for next time.

A sprinkle of powdered sugar enhances the design with very little effort. If something more tasty is desired, drizzling some ganache or a thick glaze into the valleys of the swirls is nearly foolproof, as long as the liquid is the right consistency. The perfectly spaced ridges and valleys of the swirl pattern also makes it easy to cut even portions, which is always a plus.

Like the best overall Nordic Ware pick, this pan is heavy, but it’s smaller. After so many years of use, our pan shows very little wear. There’s a bit of surface roughness on some edges from being haphazardly stored and shuffled around, but that doesn’t impact the baking or the removal of the finished goods. And of course, the important part is that the nonstick surface is still nonstick. Sure, a nonstick spray is always good insurance, but that interior coating sure helps.

In addition to the Heritage design, Nordic Ware offers the Blossom, the Crown, and the Fleur de Lis, to name a few.

Dimensions: 10.13 x 10.13 x 3.75 inches | Capacity: 10 cups

Best Mini

Nordic Ware Geo Bundtlette

Orig. $40 $37 at Amazon $51 at Newegg.com View on Perigold.com

Let’s face it—sometimes it’s easier to serve individual cakes rather than a whole cake that needs to be portioned and sliced. The Geo Bundtlette pan is perfect for that. It produces really pretty cakes that are cupcake-sized, and they don’t need extensive decorating. Like most Bundt designs, a simple sprinkle of powdered sugar is often enough. 

This pan has room for six little cakes, in three different designs with geometric patterns. A traditional cake recipe might require two batches since they usually make 12 cupcakes, but this is super-easy to clean, so it shouldn’t be a problem to bake batch after batch.

We’ve also tried this with a muffin recipe as well as a brownie recipe, and both worked well. Even the bits of cheese in the muffins didn’t stick, and they looked great on a plate.

Dimensions: 14.4 x 8.3 x 1.6 inches | Capacity: 3.5 cups

Best Lightweight

Wilton Premium Non-Stick Fluted Tube Pan

$20 at Amazon Orig. $26 $22 at Walmart

Although die-cast aluminum pans like the Nordic Ware models perform well and provide even baking, they’re noticeably heavy before the cake batter is even added. If you want something a little lighter that still performs, the Wilton Perfect Results Fluted Tube Pan weighs about half a pound less, but is still substantial enough to produce even baking results. The pan is made of thinner alloy steel with a glossy nonstick coating, which ensures that your cake will unmold from the pan cleanly.

While testing, we noticed that our cake baked a little darker in this pan than in other pans, most likely due to the slightly darker finish of the alloy steel. It was still plenty attractive, but attention should be paid to cooking time, as cakes may bake faster in this pan. The finished bundt cakes didn’t have the same sharply defined fluting as the cakes made with the Nordic Ware pan, but they were evenly baked and easily slid out of the pan once cooled. The pan was also easy to move into and out of the oven, partly because of its lighter weight but also thanks to the pan's oversized handles and wide edge.

Finally, we tested the durability of the bundt pan’s finish and every scratch left a mark. If you find that you need help removing your cake from the pan, we’d suggest using a silicone or plastic spatula. Wilton recommends hand-washing in warm, soapy water to keep the pan at its best. Since there was no cake residue left behind, this wasn’t a major inconvenience—the crumbs and grease wiped right off without any scrubbing.

Dimensions: 3.58 x 12.05 x 10.82 inches | Capacity: 8-9 cups

Best Easy-Grip

Anolon Non-stick Fluted Mold Baking Pan

$25 at Amazon $25 at Walmart $25 at Target

This highly-rated Anolon bundt pan rightfully earned a spot on this list with its performance. The nonstick fluted baking pan is made of heavy-gauge steel that’s designed to provide even baking and resist warping, even when exposed to high temperatures. But the silicone grips are what really sets this pan apart. They are comfortable, easy to grip, and got noticeably less hot than the pan during testing, making it the easiest to move into and out of the oven. We still used oven mitts to be safe, but unlike some of the aluminum pans, we couldn’t feel any heat through the fabric.

The evenly-baked bundt cake looked similar to the one baked in the Wilton pan, with a softer fluting pattern and a wider, shorter stature. But the finished cake wasn't quite as dark in color, even with the same baking time. Inverting the cake to release it from the pan was the most convenient with this pan, thanks to its rubbery handles, which shielded hands from residual heat.

If you want to bake something that requires a higher baking temperature than the average cake—like a decorative meatloaf or bread—this particular pan is oven-safe up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The biggest downside is that every scratch we made with the butter knife during our durability test left a mark on the inside of the pan. Due to that, you should wash this pan by hand, and avoid scrubbing with abrasive sponges and soaps to maintain the finish.

Dimensions: 12.2 x 11.2 x 3.5 inches | Capacity: 9-10 cups

Best Seasonal

Nordic Ware Nonstick Aluminium Haunted Manor Bundt Pan

Orig. $36 $31 at Amazon $40 at Walmart $31 at Wayfair

Nordic Ware has a number of house or cottage-styled Bundt pans, but most are winter- or Christmas-themed. The Haunted Manor celebrates fall and Halloween, and we’re all about that. However, when we chose a recipe that was smaller than usual, we ended up with a cake that didn’t show the pumpkins on the bottom, so it actually could work for any holiday.

But for Halloween, this takes the cake. Er, bakes the cake. It would be a great centerpiece, for sure, and like most Bundt pans, it doesn’t require decorating expertise. Just throw some powdered sugar on it, and the job is done. Or, for a light-colored cake, cocoa powder would do the same. It could also be drizzled with a bloody red glaze, colored sugars could be added, or it could be treated like a haunted gingerbread house with candies attached with royal icing. Plain or decorated, this one is fun.

One risk with any cake is sticking in the pan, and it’s worse when the cake has intricate designs. The good thing about a Halloween cake is that if something goes awry, and perhaps a tower gets ripped or a corner cracks, you just say that it’s a crumbling haunted house. Put a candy eyeball or skeleton hand in the crack, and it looks intentional. That said, we’ve used this one several times, and the cakes practically jumped out of the pan. It was just as easy to clean since nothing significant was left behind.

Dimensions: 9 x 10 x 7 inches | Capacity: 10 cups

Best Micro-Minis

Nordic Ware Bundt Charms

$34 at Amazon View on Hsn.com View on Kohls.com

Need something smaller than a cupcake? Having a tea party? The Bundt Charms pan makes itty-bitty cakes that are one or two bites depending on your mood. Despite the small size, the little cakes have designs that are reminiscent of Bundt pans. These are nice for little treats when a whole dessert is too much, or when you want to serve a variety of flavors so people can sample several of them.

While these look like Bundt designs, they don’t have the typical hole in the center. That hole isn’t needed in a cake this size, but we can’t help but think it would be fun to fill with a bit of jam or chocolate. Since these are so small, a whole cake recipe is going to need to be cooked in several batches, but the pan is easy to clean, so it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s also handy to have for times when you’ve made too much cake batter and want a creative way to use it.

Dimensions: 11.8 x 7.3 x 1 inches | Capacity: 1.2 cups