H. David Dalquist, 86, Bundt Pan's Inventor, Dies

January 6, 2005
 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS



 

EDINA, Minn., Jan. 5 (AP) - H. David Dalquist, creator of
the aluminum Bundt pan, died on Sunday at his home here. He
was 86.

The cause was heart failure, his family said.

Mr. Dalquist founded Nordic Ware, which has sold more than
50 million Bundt pans.

He designed the pan in 1950 at the request of members of
the Minneapolis chapter of Hadassah, who sought to recreate
cakes baked in Europe but wanted a pan made of modern
materials. Mr. Dalquist created a new shape based on a
German original, adding 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 an organization or group of
people. Mr. Dalquist added a "t" 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. Suddenly,
bakers across the country wanted their own Tunnel of Fudge
cakes.

Mr. Dalquist founded Nordic Ware after returning from duty
in the Navy in World War II. He graduated from the
University of Minnesota with a degree in chemical
engineering.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Margerite Staugaard
Dalquist; a son, David, of Minnetonka, Minn.; three
daughters, Corrine Lynch of Eden Prairie, Minn., Linda
Jeffrey of Medina, Minn., and Susan Brust of Dellwood,
Minn; and 12 grandchildren.