A Bundt cake is a cake that is baked in a Bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive donut shape. The shape is inspired by a traditional European cake known as Gugelhupf, but Bundt cakes are not generally associated with any single recipe. The style of mold in North America was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s, after cookware manufacturer Nordic Ware trademarked the name "Bundt" and began producing Bundt pans from cast aluminum. Publicity from Pillsbury and General Foods saw the cakes gain widespread popularity.

The Bundt cake derives in part from a European brioche-like cake called Gugelhupf. In the Rhineland and Palatinate regions of Germany, Gugelhupf is traditionally known as Bundkuchen (German pronunciation: [ˈbʊntkuːxn̩]), a name formed by joining the two words Bund and Kuchen (cake).

Opinions differ as to the significance of the word Bund. One possibility is that it means "bunch" or "bundle", and refers to the way the dough is bundled around the tubed center of the pan. Another source suggests that it describes the banded appearance given to the cake by the fluted sides of the pan, similar to a tied sheaf or bundle of wheat. Some authors have suggested that Bund instead refers to a group of people, and that Bundkuchen is so called because of its suitability for parties and gatherings.

The term bundt cake describes the style of bakeware more than a specific recipe. Bundt cakes do not conform to any single recipe; instead, their characterizing feature is their shape. While the term once referred to trademarked bakeware, today it has become a common term to describe any cake with the characteristic shape. The early bund-style pans were heavy and difficult to work with, and there were no modern non-stick coatings in those days, so Jewish-American women requested the development of speciality bakeware for this style of cake. An engineer and chemist from Minneapolis, Minnesota, came up with the modern cast aluminum non-stick pans which became very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. The trademark from 1951 was made generic in 1985.

The oldest surviving Jewish-American cookbook, Aunt Babette's Cookbook, written by Bertha E. Kraemer, and published in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1889, includes a recipe for a cake made with enriched yeast batter called "Plain bund or Napfkuchen".

A Bundt pan generally has fluted or grooved sides, and is usually coated to make releasing the cake easier. Like other tube or ring style pans, the central tube allows faster and more even heat distribution when baking large volumes of batter.

Ring pans, like Bundt molds, heat faster than regular round pans, and they bake deep cakes evenly even at diameters over 9 inches. Usually heating cores are recommended for even heat distribution in deep cake tins and standard cakes larger than 9 inches in diameter. To bake in standard sized tins, Bundt recipes need conversion. A standard 9-inch cake pan holds around six cups volume, so a 12-cup Bundt recipe will fill two standard cake pans, or one 13x9 sheet pan.

Gugelhupf molds also have fluted sides, while other ring shaped molds, like tube pans and savarin, have straight sides to make releasing delicate fine crumb cakes, like angel food cake, easier. Since the name "Bundt" is a trademark, similar pans are often sold as "fluted tube pans" or given other similar descriptive titles. The trademark holder Nordic Ware produces Bundt pans only in aluminum, but similar fluted pans are available in other materials.^{[citation needed]}