H. David Dalquist, creator of the aluminum Bundt pan, the top-selling cake pan in the world, died Sunday. Dalquist's Nordic Ware company has sold more than 50 million of the pans, which he designed 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.

For years, the company sold few such pans. Then in 1966, a Texas woman won second place in the Pillsbury Bake-Off for her Tunnel of Fudge Cake made in a Bundt pan. The win prompted a nationwide scramble for the pan.

Nordic Ware sells a variety of pots and pans and other kitchen equipment, but the Bundt pan remains its signature item, with more than 1 million sold each year.

posted by Steve Portigal
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