Nordic Ware85948 Harvest Leaves Bundt Cake Pan, One Size, Bronze

Good

Such a pretty mould! Amazing quality too. Buttered and floured - popped straight out with no sticking at all.

SUMMARYExpensive. High quality. Gorgeous, a thing of beauty inside and out. Produces a fabulous-looking bundt cake. Limited decoration options. Needs handles. Beware of a truncated pattern at the bottom. Too much topping destroys the top pattern. Despite three issues (handles, cost, limited decoration), I love this pan and recommend it.BUILD QUALITYWell-made and sturdy, but handle it and store it as fragile to avoid scratching the finish.CRISPY SPONGEProduces the feature Nordic Ware crisp sponge exterior which I once saw specifically mentioned as a feature in a Nordic Ware demo vid. Clear sharp pattern definition. The leaves can be any season, not just autumn. A leaf pattern is good for almost any occasion.CAPACITY / SIZEThe model name and USA cup capacity (9 cups) are integrally moulded, making a handy built-in reference. The bundt is enough for a medium-sized dinner party or a fairly large family. It's a good middle size, between Nordic Ware's small "6-cup" and very large "10-15 cup" single-bundt pans.INSTRUCTIONS / INCLUDED RECIPEThe use and care instructions are on the reverse side of the glued-on cardboard wrapper, along with a pumpkin spice cake recipe. Despite the page's product title of 'Autumn Leaves', the packaging calls the tin 'Harvest Leaves', presumably to avoid confusion between the USA's "fall" and the UK's "autumn".LONG PREP TIMEEasy to prep (I used baking spray applied with a pastry brush). As the pattern is very intricate, prep takes ages but is necessary. A small-headed pastry brush is a good idea as the tin consists almost entirely of small nooks and crannies.NEEDS HANDLESNeeds handles for manoeuvring easily, especially turning it over to unmould, as the tin edge is too narrow to grasp easily while wearing oven mitts as the outside of the tin is very smooth. A handle you put your fingers fully through and around would also provide a useful extra storage option, as it could be hung up. I also wish I could display this lovely decorative pan on my kitchen wall.TRUNCATED LEAVESOn my first go, based on the included recipe and from doing other bundts, I did a coffee & date & walnut sponge baked for 50 minutes, oven 160 degrees (preheated to 180), cooled in the tin for 10 minutes, unmoulded easily. The cake was properly cooked, wasn't dense and tasted good; but if I'd put in fewer dates (or walnuts) the batter would've risen higher (I already know that the more filling you put in the less rise you get but stupidly wanted to finish up the pack of dates I had). As leaves extend right to the pan's open end, you'll want the batter to rise as near the top as poss to avoid truncated leaves; I filled the tin three-quarters full as per usual (and as mentioned in the instructions and included recipe) but due to my rookie mistake over the quantity of dates I ended up with truncated leaves as the batter didn't rise as much as it otherwise would've.DECORATION - LEAVE THE LEAVESToo much topping reduces it from 'Harvest Leaves' to merely 'Bumpy Mountains', oops. Next time I'll serve any topping separately, or drizzle a few thin lines of caramel, as I feel buttercream or caramel adds a built-in extra flavour/texture/look. But limited decoration options limit the pan's versatility. The decoration I did is more suited to other excellent Nordic Ware bundt pans e.g. Anniversary: large ASIN B00004RFQ4, small ASIN B0000DE2U.

I have used this pan so many times and it works like a charm. Absolutely gorgeous and I will continue to use it 💛My favorite pan due to the details

The cake bakes evenly in this beautiful pan. Make sure you follow the manufacturers instructions as to how to coat your pan, I use butter and lightly flour the pan and the cake will release easily. Cleaning it is easy to, I usually let it soak in warm water with a little bit of dish soap, then I use a brush, no problem. The design is awesome which is one of the things I love about Nordic Ware. I definitely recommend this pan

I love this product, not hung I don’t like honestly. If you clean it after taking your cake out it’s and easy clean. The only thing I suggest is using the oven at a lower temperature to avoid burning. This pan absorbs heat very well and very quick so slow and steady with this one lol A great buy, I might get one of their other designs.