"funnel cake (pan)"

[Jesse Sheidlower]

I was looking at "funnel cake", referring to deep-fried cake made
by pouring batter through a funnel into deep fat (DARE: 1950,
mostly PaGer sources), when I came across a number of cites
for "funnel cake pan/tin", denoting an entirely different
thing, viz. a cake pan with a tube in the center. There are
a few Google hits; one with a picture is at
http://www.kaleden.com/detail,kfun04041-antique-funnel,379646.html

Barry posted about this a few months ago, with an 1889 Ancestry.com
cite, but this refers to the cake-pan sense, and does not antedate
the deep-fried batter sense.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about these terms.
The pan seems to be familiar, but is apparently not called a
"funnel cake pan" anymore; what is the current name?  Also,
what is the purpose, in the deep-fat version, of pouring the
batter through a funnel, instead of just dropping it from a
spoon or something?

Thanks.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED