The Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest Announces 100 Finalists
Finalists to compete for $1 million grand prize in Dallas
10/31/2007
The Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest has narrowed the field from tens of thousands of entries to the 100 recipes and their creators who will compete for the $1 million grand prize at the finals in Dallas, TX, April 13-15, 2008.The 100 competitors range in age from 27 to 72 and include eight men and 92 women. The finalists come from 36 different states, including one from Kodiak, Alaska. Cooking closest to home is a finalist from Dallas. The list of 100 finalists is available at www.bakeoff.com.
“It was no small task to determine the best recipes for the competition,” said Jann Atkins, Pillsbury Bake-Off® kitchens manager. “Entrants really embraced the categories and eligible products and created many great recipes that I know consumers across the country will enjoy.”
On April 14, the finalists will prepare their recipes in 100 GE mini kitchens set up especially for the Bake-Off® Contest at the Fairmont Hotel and Resort. The kitchens are equipped with hundreds of measuring cups, bowls, spoons, pans and other equipment the finalists will need to prepare their recipes for the judges. Working in secrecy behind closed doors, a panel of food experts will taste the recipes prepared by the finalists and select the contest winners, who will be announced on April 15.
Each of the 100 finalists won a trip to Dallas for the Bake-Off® finals and a GE microwave with enhanced cooking performance (estimated retail value of $460) and $100. In addition to the million-dollar prize, the grand prize winner will receive a GE Profile™ Double Wall Oven with PreciseAir™ Convection and chooses $7,000 in additional GE Profile™ kitchen appliances (combined retail value of the Grand Prize is approximately $1,010,000). Each of the other four category winners will receive $5,000 plus a GE Profile™ Double Oven Freestanding Range with PreciseAir™ Convection and two self-clean ovens. Three additional awards will be presented to winners chosen from any of the recipe categories. America’s Favorite Recipe Award of $5,000 will go to the finalist whose recipe receives the most online consumer votes. During early 2008, consumers will be invited to go online to www.bakeoff.com to view the 100 final recipes and cast their vote for their favorite recipe. The $5,000 Jif® Peanut Butter Award will go to the finalist recognized by the judges as having the best recipe using at least ¼ cup of Jif® Peanut Butter. The recipe rated most innovative by the judges will receive the GE Imagination at Work Award. The winner receives a GE Profile™ Double Oven Freestanding Range with PreciseAir™ Convection and two self-clean ovens and chooses $3,000 dollars in additional GE Profile™ kitchen appliances (approximate retail value $5,000). The GE Imagination At Work Award will be awarded to a finalist who has not won the Grand Prize or a Recipe Category Prize.
The 100 recipes were chosen from among consumers’ best original entries in five recipe categories: Breakfast & Brunches, Pizza Creations, Entertaining Appetizers, Old El Paso® Mexican Favorites and Sweet Treats. Finalists had to use at least two or more different eligible products in their recipes, with at least one ingredient from the primary list of products and a second from either the primary or secondary list.
The primary list featured returning eligible products to the contest, including Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls, Pizza Crust, Create ‘n Bake™ Cookie Dough, Grands!® and Golden Layers® Biscuits, Cinnamon Rolls, Breadsticks, Crusty French Loaf, and Pie Crust; Frozen Oven Baked biscuits; Brownie Mixes; Pillsbury BEST® Flour; and Old El Paso® Tortillas and Taco Shells.
The secondary list featured Old El Paso® Chopped Green Chiles, Refried Beans, Salsa, Red Enchilada Sauce and Taco Seasoning and Green Giant® Frozen Boxed Vegetables. Jif® Peanut Butter, Smucker’s® Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Fruit Spreads and Ice Cream Toppings, Crisco® Cooking Oil, Eggland’s Best Eggs, LAND O LAKES® Stick Butter, Domino® and C&H Sugar and Fisher® Nuts also were new eligible ingredients on the secondary list.
The official contest rules are available at www.bakeoff.com and list the specific eligible products and the amount of each required in a recipe entry.
The 100 mini-kitchens will be stocked with Crisco® no-stick cooking spray.
For more information, visit the Bake-Off® Contest Web site at www.bakeoff.com. The site provides a complete list of finalists as well as recipes and history from the contest’s 50 years.
About the Sponsors
General Mills is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of consumer foods products. Its more than 100 U.S. consumer brands includes Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Cheerios and other Big G cereal brands, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Totino’s, and Progresso, among others. For more than 130 years, families have trusted Pillsbury to make mealtimes special times. Favorite Pillsbury products include refrigerated cookies, crescent dinner rolls, breads, biscuits, pie crusts and sweet rolls as well as frozen biscuits, breads, rolls, pie crusts and breakfast items. For product information and great-tasting recipes, visit www.pillsbury.com. Log on to www.generalmills.com for company information.
For nearly a century, Old El Paso® has been helping and inspiring consumers to bring fun and flavorful Mexican food to their dinner tables. Trusted to create delicious Mexican meals with mainstream appeal, Old El Paso spices up meal planning. Popular Old El Paso products include dinner kits, taco shells, seasonings and a complete line of Mexican meal components. Old El Paso brings families and friends together for a fun and lively meal. For more information and delicious recipes, please visit www.oldelpaso.com.
GE Consumer & Industrial spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliance, lighting and integrated industrial equipment, systems and services. Providing solutions for commercial, industrial and residential use in more than 100 countries, GE Consumer & Industrial uses innovative technologies and "ecomagination," a GE initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that help customers and consumers meet pressing environmental challenges, to deliver comfort, convenience and electrical protection and control. General Electric (NYSE: GE) brings imagination to work, selling products under the Monogram®, Profile™ GE®, Hotpoint®, SmartWater™ Reveal®, Edison™ and Energy Smart™ consumer brands, and Entellisys™ industrial brand. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com.
The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) is a leading marketer and manufacturer of fruit spreads, peanut butter, shortening and oils, ice cream toppings and health and natural foods beverages in North America. The Company’s wide variety of icon brands and products have been part of home-made family meals for generations, and include such trusted favorites as Smucker’s® jams, jellies, preserves, fruit spreads and ice cream toppings; Jif® peanut butter; Crisco® oils, shortening and sprays; and Pillsbury® baking mixes, ready-to-spread frosting and flour. For more information and delicious recipes, please visit www.smuckers.com, www.jif.com, www.crisco.com and www.pillsburybaking.com.
Eggland's Best is the No. 1 branded egg in the U.S. They are the recipients of many awards, including The Best Tasting Egg Award from the American Culinary Chefs Best for five consecutive years, the Men’s Health Top Pick as the Best Eggs in their 2006 Nutrition Awards, The Crystal Egg Award from the International Egg Commission, and the National Health & Wellness Club Stamp of Approval. This year, Eggland’s Best became the official egg of the 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest. The distinctive “EB” stamp on the shell indicates that the eggs meet high standards of taste, nutrition and quality. Eggland’s Best hens are fed a strictly controlled, high-quality, all-natural, all-vegetarian diet without added hormones, antibiotics or steroids of any kind. Sold in supermarkets throughout the country, EB eggs are also available in cage-free and organic varieties, and are certified as Kosher. For more information, visit www.eggland.com.
Land O’Lakes, Inc., a Minnesota-based food and agriculture company, is a leading supplier of quality dairy products. In 1921, Land O’Lakes began making butter from sweet—not sour—cream. Ever since that breakthrough, the company has been a leading producer of butter and other pure, wholesome dairy products that deliver simple goodness to consumers. Today, the tradition of innovation continues with a complete line up of butter and spreads products. Visit www.landolakes.com anytime for great recipes and meal ideas.
For more than 100 years, Domino® Sugar and C&H® Sugar have joined millions of Americans in their kitchens to help bake something special and create memories that last a lifetime. Share the joy of baking with family and friends by using 100% pure cane Domino® Sugar or C&H® Sugar. For classic recipes, baking tips, product information and so much more, visit Domino® Sugar's Web site: www.dominosugar.com or C&H® Sugar's Web site: www.chsugar.com.
Since 1920, Fisher® Nuts has prided itself in providing only the freshest and highest quality nuts. Fisher Chef’s Naturals® are a favorite with at-home chefs looking for an easy and nutritious way to add flavor and pizzazz to any dish. Today, Fisher® Nuts continues its tradition of excellence as a John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (JBSS) brand. Fisher® Nuts and Fisher® Chef’s Naturals® nuts are enjoyed as healthy snacks and as delicious baking and cooking ingredients, making everyday meals extraordinary. JBSS, Inc. has been a leading processor, marketer and distributor of shelled and in-shell nuts and extruded snacks since 1922. The company’s fresh and delicious products can be found in stores and supermarkets under the Fisher®, Fisher® Chef’s Naturals® and Sunshine Country® brand names and under a variety of private labels. For more information on Fisher Nuts, please visit www.fishernuts.com.
For More Information, Contact:
Pillsbury Bake-Off® Public Relations
Peg Ilkka
(763) 764-7993
Jackie Peterson
(763) 764-4644
