Nordic Ware Elegant Heart Bundt Pan

I had been wanting this mold for some time now and my church picnic was the perfect excuse to splurge. I usually buy molds at the grocery store, but WOW. Talk about HIGH QUALITY! It is durable, heavy and truly NON-STICK. I always use bundt cake molds for my infamous chocoflan "the impossible cake." It is chocolate cake on bottom with a layer of cheesecake flan on top. As the cake bakes, the batters invert and that is why it is called the impossble cake. Perfect chocolate custard type cake. Perfect, yet time consuming to make. The catch with this recipe is the MOLD. You have to have a good sturdy mold and use the proper water bath for the baking process. After baking for 1.5 hrs you have to let the cake cool for a few hours, eithr at room temp or in the fridge. The most nerve racking part is when you invert it. HOPING, PRAYING, CROSSING your fingers it will not stick to the mold. I properly greased my pan using PAM (I wasn't taking any changes after over 2 hrs of prep/baking) and it came RIGHT OUT ever so smoothly. The only "bad" thing about mold is that since the top of this cake was custard, the sharp edges of the cake didn't quite hold and the heart split in half, but only the flan layer did this. The chocolate cake layer on the bottom half was perfectly fine. So maybe this mold is more for cake batter type cakes and not custard, but either way it looks beautiful! We just used those sections to start cutting cake.I read some reviews of people saying slicing the cake was difficult and the slices were too big. I don't think there is such a thing as a slice of cake being "too big." Isn't that better? lolMy chocoflan was for my first annual church event was quite the hit. The intricate design was not problem. We were able to cut thinner slices so more people would taste my creation. I am very pleased with my Nordic Ware mold and I will definitely be splurging more in the future!

I use this for a Vegan Raspberry Lemon Bundt (recipe below). Cake bakes evenly and releases easily. Highly recommend.Vegan Raspberry Lemon Bundt CakeLEMON CAKE• 3/4 cup I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Vegan, room temperature• 3/4 cup Vegan sugar• 1 cup applesauce• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour• 1/2 tsp. salt• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder• 1 1/4 cup almond milk, room temperature• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil• 2 tsp. lemon extract• 2 tsp lemon zest• 1 tsp lemon juice• 1 1/4 cup raspberries• 1 tbsp. flour for sifting raspberries• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon zest for garnishRASPBERRY GLAZE• 1 1/4 cups raspberries• 1 can coconut cream, room temperature• 2 or 3 cups powdered sugar1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour (or use pan release) pan.2. In medium-sized bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk or sift then set aside.3. Beat softened butter in stand mixer until light in color, about 1-3 minutes. Gradually add sugar and mix on medium speed 4 to 5 minutes until it light and fluffy.4. With the mixer on low, add applesauce. Add the milk, oil, and lemon extract and mix until incorporated.5. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium-low until combined, do not over mix.6. Remove bowl from stand mixer and stir raspberries in by hand. Reserve a few to sprinkle over batter once it is in the pan.7. Pour the batter into Bundt pan.8. Sprinkle remaining raspberries over top.9. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.10. Right out of the oven add about 1/4 cup of the Raspberry Glaze to the cake in the pan. Spread with a spatula and allow into soak in for about 15 minutes. After glaze has soaked in turn out onto a cake stand and cool to room temperature.1. Add raspberries to a powerful blender or food processor.2. Add coconut cream and blend until smooth.3. With the blender (or food processor) on low, add in powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time. You want glaze to be pourable.4. Chill until ready to serve.

As I have always found to be the case, this is excellent Nordic Ware cast aluminum quality (since I bake for Farmers Markets, I have well over a dozen in several Bundt shapes). If you take pride in your baking, these heavy cast pans are the only ones that give the consistent even crust and cooking throughout that your cakes deserve. Respectfully, don't waste your time and risk your reputation on the thin formed aluminum pans.In my long experience with non stick, it has its limits, that said this is quite good. We use Bundt pans largely for the beauty of the presentation, missing chunks don't cut it. For that reason, I ALWAYS grease my pans buy brushing on a very thin coating of a mix of 70% palm oil and 30% flour. After you take the cake out of the oven, let the cake cool until the pan is just warm to the touch before covering it with a wire rack and inverting it. If you let the pan get too cool the palm oil will harden and the cake will stick. if that happens, put it back into a warm oven for a few minutes and let it sit until the pan is just warm to the touch, the cake should come out perfectly. If it stuck in spots, I don't want to be mean but you were probably a bit careless in greasing the pan. I always brush on the grease mixture, and then take a minute to go around the pan with the brush once more.A few words of caution, in spite of it's rugged appearance, this pan is not bullet proof, like any great tool, even a hammer, it requires a little TLC. No scouring pads or metal objects. If some cake gets cooked on DO NOT try to scrape it off, just soak it in hot soapy water for a little while and the residue will soften and release easily. I do not wash my pans with soap, just warm water. This leaves a very thin base of oil as a bit of a primer for preparing for the next cake. Enjoy.