Attending the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off
On Friday’s blog, I told you about the Sunday Night Media Dinner at Tchoup Chop the night before the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in Orlando, Florida. Today, I have photos to share of the actual event. Out of the many thousands of recipes submitted for this most prestigious and most popular cooking contest, only 100 lucky contestants were invited to the finals. This year’s Bake-Off was held at the Peabody Orlando Hotel. Those 100 recipes required a staggering 279 eggs, 344 mixing bowls, 252 knives, 269 spatulas, 996 measuring cups, 78 onions, 102 sticks of butter, 198 cutting boards, and 104 pounds of sugar to get the job done. The contestants had 4-hours to turn their ingredients into award-winning recipes.
1 Here I am at the 45th Pillsbury Bake Off Contest held at the Peabody Orlando Hotel.
2 The contest was held in the ballroom of the Peabody.
3 The 100 finalists were lined up for the Grand March to their ranges.
4 We featured Keith Henn of Brightwaters, New York, on our Road to the Bake off Show. He made Curried Soup with Cheese filled Naan. http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/curried-soup-with-cheese-filled-naan/2ad8fa05-f508-4b4a-a27d-41c4e0a9ccca/
5 All of the finalists prepared dishes were required to be presented to the judges by 12PM.
6 This contest is for non-professional cooks only. You will be disqualified if you receive money for cooking, are a food blogger, or if you have attended or are attending culinary school.
7 There was a whole group of us who attended. Here I am with Lucinda Scala Quinn - SVP, Exec Editorial Dir, Food & Ent, Pilar Guzman - VP, Editor in Chief MSL, Sarah Carey - VP Editor in Chief EDF, Joey Kola - my audience warm-up comic.
8 Laurie Hepburn - Television Producer - checking a monitor
9 Fran Brescia - Producer, Lisa Wagner - SVP Supervising Editorial Producer, and Geoffrey Darby - General Manager Television
10 Each recipe had to fit into one of four categories: Breakfast and Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Dinner Made Easy, or Sweet Treats.
11 We had a lot of fun visiting all of the bustling food prep stations and tasting the creations.
12 So many contestants had their own cheering committees.
13 Kathy Ault of Edmond, Oklahoma made Stuffed Three-Seed Braid: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/stuffed-three-seed-braid/bd956fb5-72f1-47c6-ae13-2fee4ccae8e1/
14 Jone Schumacher of Chapin, Illinois explaining her Orange-Coconut Fish Po'Boys http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/orange-coconut-fish-poboys/03dc3046-0938-45a9-86a7-379502f813af/
15 This bread creation uses the required ingredients of Land O Lakes Butter and Pillsbury Best Flour.
16 Discussing the contest with Ann Simonds, Senior Vice President; President, Pillsbury USA
17 Since the first Bake-Off competition in 1949, more than 4,000 finalists have vied for the Grand Prize.
18 Dinah Surh of Staten Island, NY, preparing her Meatball Minestrone Bake http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/meatball-minestrone-bake/87d0ae77-7126-4382-9b2d-66e5dfff1eb7/
19 Jane Michel of Houston, Texas made Biscuit Corn Cakes with Goat Cheese and Blackberry-Thyme Sauce http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/biscuit-corn-cakes-with-goat-cheese-and-blackberry-thyme-sauce/7a40ff3e-6f28-4b76-8f12-03b1c40cb24f/
20 Holly Deak from Brookline, MA prepared a Savory Vegetable Tart in the Breakfast & Brunches category.
21 Savory Vegetable Tart from Holly Deak of Brookline, Massachusetts http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/savory-vegetable-tart/34e27859-78cf-4af4-965f-a875c6e760bd/
22 Marjean Biegelow of Portland, OR making her Luscious Caramel-Brownie bites http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/luscious-caramel-brownie-bites/9d987818-b294-4b86-9560-5118715fface/
23 Amy Siegel of Clifton, New Jersey made Strawberry Swirl-Peanut Butter-Brownie Cupcakes http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/strawberry-swirl-peanut-butter-brownie-cupcakes/0d53e79f-1e56-40e5-99f6-9c079acb0b75/
24 Spiced Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream from Lori Falce of Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/spiced-chocolate-cupcakes-with-caramel-buttercream/82b0a7c2-f3bc-4713-83ac-ccf61c5152df/
25 Peanut Butter Creme Cookie Cups from Mary Fields from Gilbert, Arizona http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/peanut-butter-creme-cookie-cups/355b5059-7663-46bb-a666-2af0eefc1052/
26 Nalini Menon of Vista, California created a Panko-Topped Curried Eggs Breakfast Pizza: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/panko-topped-curried-eggs-breakfast-pizza/777387c6-507d-4506-a09a-eaca59e07a07/
27 Salmon Crescent Sushi Rolls from Julie McIntire of Independence, MO http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/salmon-crescent-sushi-rolls/9292ce94-088d-4940-8d66-6fa24c9ba1ba/
28 Mango-Lemon Drop Sunshine Puffs from Amber Schofield, Athens, AL http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/mango-lemon-drop-sunshine-puffs/3d47363a-72fd-46dc-a9d2-f377e0f4d421/
29 interviewing judge Carolyn Jung, Food and Wine writer
30 All recipes must use at least two eligible products.
31 Tens of thousands entered the contest, but only 100 made it to the finals. This year there were 95 women and 5 men.
32 Roasted butternut squash for Butternut Squash Brunch Braid
33 Butternut Squash Brunch Braid from Natalie Edwards of Boxborough, Massachusetts http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/butternut-squash-brunch-braid/06955b57-4dba-4eb0-9040-95be19384c05/
34 Natalie Edwards with her Butternut Squash Brunch Braid
35 Loaded Nacho Burgers from Pam Wilkinson of Tracy, California http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/loaded-nacho-burgers/f2cb4484-4480-4cc2-a61c-b7310b193043/
36 Cherry-Jalapeño-Cream Cheese Tartlets from Maryann Rems of Windermere, Florida http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/cherry-jalapeno-cream-cheese-tartlets/39e29bf8-d283-47b3-ad56-eb46f1e49406/
37 Kickin' Chicken Sandwiches with cucumber topping from Pauline Porterfield of Roxboro, North Carolina: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/kickin-chicken-sandwiches-with-cucumber-topping/517b0b17-3eb8-4f59-9d3e-bdd9b5618c85/
38 Mediterranean Chicken Pot Pies from Elizabeth Morath of Amherst, New York http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/mediterranean-chicken-pot-pies/15282c01-7f74-45db-9889-6f1a21a91ab1/
39 Dark Cherry Chocolate Breakfast Pastry from MaryAnne Salaway of Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/dark-cherry-chocolate-breakfast-pastry/8ac287b1-68f4-44ce-b3b0-a840438ad06c/
40 Elizabeth Morath presenting her Kickin' Chicken Sandwiches to the judges table
41 This was the judging area where a panel of 12 judges had to agree unanimously who the winner was.
42 And this area is where all of the recipe creations were on display for all to look at.
43 Posing with Joey Mead, my television director
44 We created a special television set for my show to do a live broadcast announcing the grand prize winner. All the objects on the wonderful panels for the set were photographic images of the Martha kitchen products sold at Macy’s.
45 This rolling countertop was designed by me for The Home Depot and was built by MasterBrand, the builder of the Martha Stewart Kitchens in North Carolina.
46 Anduin Havens, my television set decorator, designed these panels.
47 The items that make up this fun chandelier are also from the Martha Stewart collection of professional kitchen tools from Macy's.
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Can't wait for the winning recipe.
Posted by: Holiday Baker Man | April 3rd, 2012 at 12:32 am
mmmmm, all the food looks so good! We do not have cable anymore and I haven't miss it until now. I would love to see your show and see who wins. When I was in school for culinary arts, majoring in pastries, back in the late 70's, my favorite cookbook was Pillsbury's. They had to best everyday desserts.
I love reading your blog. If you had your tv show available as a subscription on YouTube, I would gladly pay for it.
I can hope!
Posted by: Julie | April 3rd, 2012 at 7:30 am
Loved that episode! Gets my culinary juices flowing. The prize money is fantastic, but the competition is the real "thing"..
So glad you could host the finals. It looked as though you were having a great time.
Have a great day,
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon | April 3rd, 2012 at 9:27 am
I can't wait to try making the Biscuit Corn Cakes. It looks like everyone had a lot of fun!
Posted by: Andrea Dean | April 3rd, 2012 at 9:39 am
Hi Martha, What a delightful blog post about the Pillsbury Bake-Off! You, your terrific team, and the Pillsbury judges, etc. did a fantastic job presenting the best TV Show of Pillsbury contests ever! I recall watching the contest years ago and enjoyed them, but your live TV Show was even better and so much fun to watch! Sure hope you do it again! These photos and comments about each one are fabulous and the contestants all looked so happy to be there! The Peabody Orlando Hotel sure was a great place to have this event! The aprons the contestants were wearing sure were cute and the stoves were magnificent! How fun to see both Joey's there! My favorite photos were #1,7,16,29,&43-awesome!!!!! Hope you have another great day! Off to see F,S,&GK Exploring Maine on The Daily Wag!!! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | April 3rd, 2012 at 9:55 am
Martha,
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | April 3rd, 2012 at 10:55 am
This is a great blog because it illustrates how competitive contestants have to be. I can not even imagine being so successful to make it to the run offs and then having to work harder with the conducted conditions of the contest. My goodness. And then to be composed enough with Martha Stewart and her show to be in the room.
Did anyone faint or at least have to sit down?
Posted by: Margie | April 3rd, 2012 at 11:20 am
Hi Martha,
First off I just wanted to say that I love how you and Sophie decorated baskets with rickrack today on the show. As soon as the picture goes up, I’ll be pinning it.
~
It was also nice to see the winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off on Google hang out with you. I’m really happy for her win, she is such a nice lady, and sensible. I just know she will put her wins to good use. I noticed the entire show is here and I’ve watched it again…. http://www.marthastewart.com/898382/pillsbury-bake-contest-winner …because I really enjoyed that show! I hope I remember to pick up the booklet at the grocers with all the bake-off recipes in it. The ones you photographed here looked so good – I don’t know how the judges made a unanimous decision. For anyone who loves food and loves to cook, the bake-off was definitely the super bowl of cooking. I look forward to the next one in two years. Trish
Posted by: Trish | April 3rd, 2012 at 11:23 am
I loved your show today! I do have a suggestion for a kiolbassa sausage. There is a company in San Antonio where they make the best sausage, my favorite is the jalapeno one, you should totally try it, go to http://www.kiolbassa.com you are going to love their products! Bye
Posted by: Lily Escobedo | April 3rd, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Thanks for a behind the scenes look at the Pillsbury bake-off Martha. I love the rolling center island! So practical and pretty!
Posted by: Cindy F | April 3rd, 2012 at 3:14 pm
always love all your shows,but this show is the greatest. Ilove the Pillsbury bake off every year. Can't wait to see the final winner. Thank you for a behind the scenes.
Posted by: brenda sammons | April 3rd, 2012 at 8:25 pm
I was there and witnessed the announcement of the Bake-Off winner firsthand. What a thrilling experience! I had the unique opportunity of working as a local alongside your amazing crew. Between the fine folks at Pillsbury, the kindness, warmth and professionalism of your entire Production Team AND watching someone's life change in an instant - this was one of the best experiences of my career. I am honored to have been a part of it. Thank you!
Posted by: Rizza Germonto-Baker | April 3rd, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Martha you are looking wonderful as usual!
Posted by: John Askin | April 3rd, 2012 at 10:25 pm