It can be difficult for a plain old Bundt cake to find a place in the land of skewered lamb, Tzatziki sauces, and Moussaka…almost as difficult as it can be for a very American, non-Greek to find a place amongst native Greeks, as is the story behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Modeled after her own real-life love story, screenwriter and actress Nia Vardalos stars as Fotoula “Toula” Portokalos, a middle aged Greek-American struggling to find purpose and independence in her mundane, parental-controlled life. The only thing Greek women are meant to do, in Toula’s mind, is to marry a Greek man and produce a large Greek family and live happily ever after in Greece-America.

However, Toula finds herself committing the deadly Grecian sin after she meets and falls in love with Ian Miller (played by John Corbett), an obvious non-Greek. Toula decides to warn him of what could be there very near future, “…And my whole family is big and loud. And everybody is in each other’s lives and business. All the time! Like, you never just have a minute alone, just to think, ’cause we’re always together, just eating, eating, eating! The only other people we know are Greeks, ’cause Greeks marry Greeks to breed more Greeks, to be loud breeding Greek eaters.”

After accepting his new fate as the newest member in the “big and loud” Greek family, Ian proposes to Toula and decides to be baptized in the Greek Orthodox church to appease her father, Gus (played by Michael Constantine), who has been against the relationship since day one. To celebrate his baptism and the soon-to-be Greek wedding, Toula’s family decides to host a “small” get together to welcome the Miller family into the Portokalos family. However, a “small” get together in the Portokalos household means they only invite the immediate family, which consists of 27 first cousins…

Believing they were about to attend a quiet dinner to meet Toula’s parents, Rodney and Harriet Miller’s eyes slowly widen and their jaws slowly drop as they pull up to a crowd of Greeks dancing and clinking their glasses of Ouzo around a burning lamb.

As they walk up to the spectacle Harriet hands a Bundt cake to Toula’s mother Maria, (played by Lainie Kazan). Mystified by this odd, exotic offering Maria asks, “What is it?” Harriet states, “It’s a Bundt.” Still confused Maria asks, “A bun?”..Harriet corrects her, “A Bund-T”…Maria responds, “A bonnn-k?”…And finally Harriet loses her cool, “BUND-T! BUUND-T!” Putting two and two together, Maria announces, “I know! It’s a cake!” and everyone cheers. As she walks away, Maria whispers to a family member, “There’s a hole in this cake…” Later on, Maria solves the Bundt cake hole mystery and places a flower pot in the center as she announces, “And now, the bun cake!”

As an ode to the Bundt cake, we decided to feature some of our favorite Bundt Pan manufacturers such as Nordic Ware and Emile Henry, available in our eBay store while supplies last. The perfect dessert to bring to your next “Big Fat Greek” gathering!