This post is being sponsored by Nordic Ware featuring their absolutely beautiful Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan. For as long as I can remember Sundays meant homemade bread, roast with potatoes and a bundt cake. They were humble cakes that were simplistic in ingredients but elegant in appearance and decadent in flavor. When I received this Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan I immediately got a smile on my face and a sense of comfort in my heart. Nordic Ware pans have been a mainstay in my family for generations.
Mom and Grandma loved their Nordic Ware bundt pans but more importantly, they trusted in them and their products. And if they loved and trusted them then I did. Mom always knew best!
I’d say over the past 5 years, there has been a huge resurgence of the bundt cake on food blogs, cooking shows and even some cake shops sell just bundts. Bundt cakes are the New Sexy in the cake world. They are sleek and svelte. They are typically round (though recently I’ve seen square designs) yet the imprinted design can change based on the pan. You’re putting the full responsibility on flavor where it belongs – in the cake and not on the toppings. The toppings should be there to augment the flavor. That being the case that’s a lot of faith to put into a pan.
You want a pan, a company that delivers EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Nordic Ware is that company and has those pans.
This Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan is not only positively stunning in design but the overall quality is superior. The pan itself is part of the Cast Aluminum Bakeware series. Because of the cast aluminum make up, it provides superior baking performance and beautiful detailed results. I mean just look at those clean lines in the pan.
Next let’s talk about pan clean up. Thanks to the non stick coating you’re left with an unbelievable cake release – it just slides right out! And clean up… such a breeze! I just added some hot soapy water and it practically cleaned itself! Nothing is worse than making a cake batter, baking that perfect looking cake and when you go to remove it from the pan part of it sticks. In the decades I’ve been using Nordic Ware pans I have never had a cake stick… EVER!
On my Facebook page, I have a few collectors of bundt pans and they’ve shared some pictures of their collections. If I had a bake shop or bistro I would LOVE to have these gorgeous pans on display. They are of heirloom quality. They have durability and have a lifetime warranty. Not many companies these days offer that.
Next just look at the unique “Flower of the lily” design. It’s just so, so, so.. Regal. It’s elegant and exudes class in the cake world.
For the foodie in your life this would be something they would love. This is a definite addition to their holiday gift list. If I didn’t already have one of these pans I would have most certainly asked Santa Fantabulous for one of these! What I have done in the past for Christmas is buy my Foodie friends Nordic Ware bundt pans, make the cake in it and then once cooled (out of the pan), wrap the cake back up in the pan along with a few other items plus the cake recipe card and give that as the whole gift. Not only do they get a delicious cake (like the one pictured) but they also get an heirloom piece to add to their collection.
Wouldn’t you just love getting a gift like that? I know I would. You can have your cake, eat it too AND make it again any time you want!
For the cake I made today, I went with something festive and that reminded me of the holidays. I could have gone with something with cinnamon and gingerbread or even pumpkin but for this pan, I wanted something a bit more ‘grown up’. I wanted something that you could present for Sunday brunch, tea with the ladies or a holiday dinner with your boss.
Since the holiday season is just kicking off (and that I just finished making another batch of my ultimate cranberry relish), I decided to use cranberries in the batter. When making a cake, cranberries pair perfectly with ginger and orange. It just balances out the tartness of the berry beautifully. And trust me, when I say they are tart, THEY ARE TART! Yeah…I learned the hard way. As I was cleaning up the counter while I had this cake in the oven I spied a rogue cranberry that I must have missed putting in the batter. Without thinking I popped it in my mouth…
and bit down…
Did you ever bite into something so tart that you immediately got jaw pain, your lips pursed up so tight, you ‘squinched up your face so hard’ that you literally froze your mouth from biting down any more? Yeah, that’s what I did. I got ear pain from the tartness of a single plain cranberry and my eyes got as big as silver dollars. Mr. Fantabulous saw this and lost it from laughing so hard. The man said “Oh wait! Don’t move, let me get a picture!” and reached for his phone. I actually had to get rid of the cranberry in my mouth and drink a bunch of water. It’s funny how something so tart as-is can bake into something truly magical.
So anyway, back to this cake. When I had the batter made and tasted it I knew I had something really good however… yes however, I wanted to elevate it to something more sophisticated. I originally wanted to add in a cheesecake swirl to the batter but due to the batter being thick it didn’t really swirl so instead I added the orange cheesecake filling to the batter and just barely mixed to mimic a pseudo swirl.
What came out was honestly the most amazing texture cake I have ever had. It was creamy to the bite still in a cake form. The orange zest in the cake and in the orange cheesecake truly transcended this cake from amazing to TRULY PERFECT!
So this year, for your favorite foodie, you need to get them this beautiful Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan. You will so be their favorite person ever! And yes, just like I did with the Cookies & Cream Baking Pan, the recipe for this amazing cake will be in a follow up post. I have to make you crave this just for a little bit.
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