Customer Reviews

Nordic Ware Pro Cast Castle Bundt Pan

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love this pan. From the first time I saw it displayed in the kitchen store, surrounded by raw sugar "sand" and a pail and shovel, I was charmed. My imagination took hold and I had to have it.

First of all, it bakes up just like any other bundt cake, so long as you get each nook and cranny of the pan interior with flour-added cooking spray. (It's right there on the grocer's shelf next to the regular spray.) If you do that one simple step, I guarantee that this cake will release from the pan perfectly every time! I like yellow cake for that sandy color - no need to frost this cake! Oh, and take care not to over-fill the pan... make a few extra cupcakes if you need to with any leftover batter.

Presentation options are endless! I use turbinado sugar "sand", sprinkled all over, and chocolate rocks for a natural look. I've added chocolate seashells for a beachy look, and once sugar cookie starfish... On another version, fondant "ladybugs" and "butterflies" frolicked about the castle walls. Don't forget to add flags to the turrets, especially if it's someone's birthday cake! Most of all, have fun and enjoy the compliments!

Castle cakes! Castle cakes! Castle cakes! You have to admit it's fun to say. :D

This little bundt pan delivers! It pops out beautiful cakes in amazing detail. Using non-stick flour spray, I've have had no problems at all (and I've had a long history of cracked cakes from other pans). I've baked 6 cakes in the past week. Each one turned out fantastic and was a delight to decorate (we found out that cutting out the drawbridge further adds to the realism of the cake--plus you can put a little knight or gingerbread person inside).

The quality of this pan is also very impressive. It's made with a heavy metal alloy (not like the cheapy bundt cake pans I've seen at the store). It will most likely become an heirloom in my family. :)

NordicWare castle cake pan is super easy to use (follow bundt-pan directions on cake mix.) Cake comes out perfectly with the cake showing all of the details on the pan. (follow bundt-pan directions on cake mix box.) Drizzle cake with melted frosting & crushed candies or seasonal-colored sprinkles to decorate (regular frosting would cover all the details.) Easy, easy, easy cake pan to use, and soooo easy to end up with a WOW looking dessert. Use your imagination on decorating...we did Candy Canes in the towers for a christmas cake. Guests were so impressed, they decided this is the new "traditional" Christmas Day dessert, then brainstormed about all the other ways castle could be decorated for other occasions & holidays (dream-fairy castle for a wedding shower, haunted castle for Halloween, Disney castle for a birthday party, etc.) My Suggestion: Search online for the best price. I originally saw the pan in an expensive gift catalog for $40 plus shipping, also found it in person at a large housewares chain store for $35. Then I bought the pan online for under $30, shipping included so if you're not in a hurry, shop it.

I sprayed the pan well, and the cake came out easily. Since you can't put frosting on the cake, we put it underneath, using white icing dyed blue for water like a moat. First icing on the cake plate, then the cake, then I started clumpping the icing around it with the idea I would smooth it out. But, it looked like waves crashing around the castle, so I left it like it was! I used the spray on blue decorating stuff to put more blue on, and used blue sugar crystals to give it some dimension, and I am not terrible artistic but it looked fantastic! I will use this pan many, many times and my local bakery even wants to take a look at it for some ideas. So worth the 20 bucks!

What a fun pan! I spray the nooks and crannies heavily with cooking spray (any kind works fine, not just the flour version) and the cake comes right out. Not for icing, as the details are lost, but I have glazed it or sprinkled powdered sugar over it and it's perfect. Even my dad was charmed by his castle birthday cake! When I make a cake in this pan, it never lasts. Everyone has to have his own "turret". Buy this pan immediately!

Even after having owned this pan for years, I still enjoy it as much as when first purchased. I have baked several types of cakes and used it as a gelatin mold. The pan still performs & looks unused.

Some suggestions:
- Follow the directions for flouring and cooling. If you don't, you'll be using a toothpick to clean those details. Otherwise, the cakes lifts out perfectly.

- I use Bak-klene spray available at Williams-Sonoma, where I purchased the pan. Then I flour the pan.

- Smooth recipes provide the best results. One recipe with crushed pineapple resulted in loss of detail & difficulty removing from pan.

- When using as a gelatin mold, follow the instructions for Jigglers(TM). I followed the quick-set method & the finished product did stand up but was very unstable.

- Make an Undersea Castle with gelatin and gummy fish & sharks. Do not try to make seaweed using the yogurt gummy rolls. They dissolve in the gelatin.

- Make a haunted house or Dracula's Castle for Halloween with Devil's Food Cake.

- Dress the cake up for these themes: Christmas Wonderland, Princess, Horse Trainer or Pirate.

- Brown sugar makes a great base for your castle. I gave four stars instead of five because this pan can be more difficult to clean than regular cake pans but the compliments are worth it.

I loved this and it works wonderful as long as you don't want to put icing on it. The pan is beautifully detailed so trying to ice it loses the detail. My daughter wanted a pink cake...so istead of pink icing, I dyed the batter pink and made a few icing tops for the turrets - she loved it!

I bought this on a lark one summer to make a sandcastle cake and it was such a hit. All I used was a dump cake recipe and used Bakers Joy and it didn't stick at all. The kids had a blast decorating with gummy bears lying on "beach towels" made of fruit rollups and lying under cocktail umbrellas. Then for Halloween I made it a chocholate spooky castle cake and for Christmast it was peppermint Christmas castle. Very fun and easy to use.

Never one to do anything half way- I jumped into bundt pan baking with this castle pan.

First off- the Wow Factor is BIG with this piece. I've used it three times so far and each time I received ooh's and ahh's galore. I've done a glaze and also powdered sugar and both gave a good coating without obscuring any details.

I tried using Bakers Joy and the cake still stuck. The next time I used Bakers Joy, added flour and baked the cake a bit longer and it came out perfectly. Don't be afraid to let your cake get well done in this pan- it helped rather than hindered.

With vegan cake mix- bake the cake longer or it won't hold the detail. There simply isn't enough binder action to keep all that detail. First vegan cake was sloppy and had minor detail- the second vegan cake I cooked for almost eight minutes longer than the recipe called for and the detail came out perfectly.

A note on icing:
The front of the cake (large doors) is quite thick so consider making that area an icing heavy zone in order to avoid giving someone a piece of cake that is just that- cake. Another option is to insert a section of icing (think twinkie) into the door area and have that section be for the birthday boy/girl. The bottom will not be perfectly flat so either shave it or do what I did- frost the heck out of the sides to create 'grass' for the castle to sit on.

I would recommend this pan as long as you are prepared to do a test cake to learn your favorite method. I wouldn't recommend the pan if you have a big cake due tomorrow and want a wow factor- give yourself a trial cake first to get the technique down. Plus, who doesn't like MORE cake?

This pan really makes an impressive cake. I use a store-bought cake mix, and then dust the finished product with powedered suger. Looks great! Just make sure to spray the thing really well with Pam before you bake. I use a baby bottle brush to speed clean up of the pan when I'm done.