Serves: 5
Imagine that first contest. The year was 1949. President Harry Truman had a plan to lead the world to peace and prosperity. Soldiers had returned from the war in the Pacific and Europe. Women moved from their wartime jobs to full-time homemaking. Wartime sugar rationing had finally ended, and home cooks were baking up a storm: cookies, cakes, pies and brownies. there was a spirit of celebration in the air--and why not? The nation had made a transition from a period of terrible adversity to a time of prosperity. At Pillsbury, President Philip Pillsbury felt like celebrating, too he wanted to recognize the achievements of those unsung heroes of the dining room and cookie jar--home cooks.
What was missing from the life of devoted, industrious home cooks? Public recognition, glamour and rewards for their culinary talents. Where was the most glamorous place in the country? The ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. So, what if 100 of the best home cooks were gathered together, treated like royalty and rewarded for their efforts? Wouldn't that bring excitement and respect to kitchens from the shores of Florida to the mountains of Alaska? A competition was announced, an avalanche of entries arrived and what was to become Pillsbury's Bake-Off@ Contest was born.
Those first years of the Bake-Off@ Contest were amazing" Contestants from all over the country and from every walk of life were showered with luxury to convey the message that the quiet work they did daily--the cooking, the baking, the serving, the planning, the attention to detail--was appreciated and esteemed. Many contestants had never been on a train or stayed in a hotel before. And they certainly had never met the likes of former first lady and nationally syndicated columnist Eleanor Roosevelt, or television and radio personality Art Linkletter. These celebrities were at the first event, then known as the Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest. Contestants were served breakfast in bed, treated to a luncheon that included pheasant under glass, and pampered with the kind of admiring attention formerly reserved for captains of industry and film stars. In retrospect, those first Bake-Off@ Contests could be read as a sign of the changes that would transform American society over the next fifty years. Women would soon begin to extend their activities outside the home again, to pursue professional achievements and professional status. Is it any wonder that the Smithsonian Institution recently accepted Pillsbury contest memorabilia into their permanent collection?
In fact, the recipes popularized through the Bake-Off® Contest have become a part of our culture. No collection of the favorite recipes of the century would be complete without a nod to Peanut Blossoms, cookies made with a chocolate kiss baked in a peanut-butter thumbprint. For that timeless cookie, thank Freda Smith, who invented them for Bake-Off® Contest 9, in 1957. French Silk Chocolate Pie has become such an American icon it can be found from the humblest diners to the fanciest restaurants--Betty Cooper worked up the recipe for Bake-Off® Contest 3, in 1951. And the Tunnel of Fudge Cake? Millions of these cakes have been served since Ella Rita Helfrich invented it for Bake-Off® Contest 17, in 1966.
Classic recipes such as these have permeated the culture so thoroughly that many families think of them as family heirlooms. People who have picked up a recipe for a particularly good herbed bread made with cottage cheese over the years don't know it's Leona Schnuelle's Dilly Casserole Bread, the Grand Prize winner from Bake-Off® Contest 12, in 1960-they only know it's delicious.
To celebrate these recipes and their impact on the way that Americans eat, Pillsbury has created the Bake-Off® Contest Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame recipes include the most popular and time-tested dishes and desserts from the first fifty years of the contest, chosen by both Pillsbury's home economists and consumers.
Who's in the Hall of Fame?
* Madella Bathke, for her Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole from Bake-Off® Contest 28, in 1978
* Julie (Konecne) Bengtson, for her Chocolate Praline Layer Cake from Bake-Off® Contest 33, in 1988
* Betty Cooper, for her French Silk Chocolate Pie, from Bake-Off® Contest 3, in 1951
* Ronna Sue Farley, for her Ham and Cheese Crescent Snacks, from Bake-Off® Contest 26, in 1975
* Lois Ann Groves, for her Crescent Caramel Swirl, from Bake-Off® Contest 27, in 1976
* Ella Rita Helfrich, for her Tunnel of Fudge Cake, from Bake-Off® Contest 17 in 1966
* Barbara Van Itallie, for her Broccoli Cauliflower Tetrazzini, from Bake-Off® Contest 33, in 1988
* Millicent (Caplan) Nathan, for her Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie, from Bake-Off® Contest 29, in 1980
* Peter Russell, for his Poppin' Fresh Barbecups, from Bake-Off® Contest 19, in 1968
* Leona Schnuelle, for her Dilly Casserole Bread, from Bake-Off® Contest 12, in 1960
* Gertrude Schweitzerhof, for her Salted Peanut Chews, from Bake-Off® Contest 29, in 1980
* Freda Smith, for her Peanut Blossoms, from Bake-Off® Contest 9, in 1957
* Edna (Holmgren) Walker, for her Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs, from Bake-Off@ Contest 20, in 1969
* Penelope Weiss, for her Black & White Brownies, from Bake-Off® Contest 35, in 1992
Is getting into this Hall of Fame a realistic dream for home cooks? Yes. The Bake-Off® is an absolutely upright, thorough and principled contest. Every precaution is taken to ensure that entries are original. To keep the competition fair for home cooks, food professionals and, of course, Pillsbury employees are barred from participating.
Of course, the first step on the road to the Hall of Fame is to become a contestant in the Bake-Off® Contest. If you're a home cook with a good recipe, fill out an entry form--they are available online, in packages of Pillsbury products, through the mail, in special Pillsbury displays in grocery stores, in Pillsbury publications such as CLASSIC COOKBOOKS and at special Pillsbury promotional events hosted by past finalists. Keys to a topnotch entry are:
1. Follow the contest rules, paying attention to deadlines and making sure the recipe is original.
2. Be specific when listing ingredients, measurements, pan sizes, cooking temperatures and preparation method.
After that, chances for a winning entry can be increased by thinking about a recipe's popular appeal: that is, would family cooks nationwide be able to reproduce your results? A dish's creativity, attractiveness and reasonable preparation time will also increase chances of success.
The entries go directly to an independent judging agency, which screens all the recipes, first eliminating those recipes that fail to follow the rules. The next step: removing all identifying information, such as names or addresses, from the selected recipes, and coding them so that the screening will be completely anonymous. The coded recipes are then forwarded to Pillsbury for kitchen testing.
A staff of Bake-Off® home economists carefully reads through the recipes, selecting those that are the most interesting, and creative without requiring unusual equipment or ingredients. Those recipes then get a workout in the famous Pillsbury test kitchens. Each recipe is prepared and evaluated by a panel of home economists for taste, appearance, creativity, ease of preparation, general appeal and appropriate use of Pillsbury products. Recipes approved by the panel continue through the evaluation process to a team of researchers that examines each recipe for originality. Recipes are compared to a computer database and a large library of food publications, to make sure that the recipe isn't too similar to one that has been previously published. The recipe must feature several significant changes from a published recipe to be considered original. Testing continues until the 100 top recipes shine through.
The delightful task of notifying finalists comes next. Finalists are often overwhelmed by the news, some crying tears of joy. Many finalists have been entering recipes for years. One woman had entered every year from 1949 through 1988, until she finally won. The news of their success is thrilling for everyone. Next, forms and releases are completed, and travel arrangements are made. Some Bake-Off® details are taken care of long before cooks even consider sending in their entries. For example, the site of the Bake-Off® Contest is chosen years in advance, since so few hotels are able to accommodate this huge event. Pillsbury also arranges for the ranges, refrigerators and other technical needs months before entries arrive. A team of Pillsbury employees begins to compile grocery, equipment and utensil lists for each finalist, checking and double-checking to make sure everything is accounted for. A few days before the contest, the giant list of groceries is purchased, the 100 Bake-Off® kitchens are set up and excitement builds to a feverish pitch.
What's the typical weekend of a Bake-Off® finalist like? On the Saturday before the awards announcement, finalists arrive from all over the country and are greeted by Bake-Off® representatives at the airport. Finalists check into the hotel, begin to meet their fellow contestants and are treated to a gala dinner. The next morning, after a luxurious breakfast, contestants go through the Bake-Off® orientation, where they find out what will happen on contest day and get a chance to see the ballroom where the competition will take place. The rest of the day is given over to sightseeing and a celebratory dinner and entertainment. The friendships formed at the Bake-Off® Contest are often lifelong. Former contestants often write to Pillsbury with news of their Bake-Off® friends' whereabouts, and some "round-robin" letters involving Bake-Off® winners have been going for several decades. The big day then arrives and many contestants wake up to butterflies in their stomach because so much depends on the next few hours' work.
After an early breakfast, the contestants line up four-abreast and march into a ballroom full of kitchens, cameras, media people and Bake-Off® staffers to the strains of "When the Saints Go Marching In.'' The contestants have from 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. to prepare their recipe twice: once for the judges and once to be photographed. Sweet and savory aromas fill the ballroom as reporters, television crews and celebrities mingle with the Bake-Off® contestants. Contestants share samples, mug for cameras and put the finishing touches on the dishes that are brought to the sequestered judges. The rest of the day is spent unwinding, topped off with a festive dinner that allows contestants to revel in the day's excitement. The next morning brings the moment all have been waiting for--the awards ceremony.
The Bake-Off@ Contest has been going strong for more than fifty years. All agree it is because of one thing--integrity. The scrupulousness of the judging process and the original idea behind the contest--promoting wholesome family meals--have combined to create an American institution of utmost integrity.
Much has changed in the Bake-Off® Contest over the years: For example, the only ingredient required for early Bake-Off® recipes was at least one-half cup of flour. Today there are many qualifying products soups, salads and entrees are welcome additions to the Bake-Off® table. New companies to the Pillsbury family, such as Green Giant, have prompted the introduction of products like frozen vegetables to the list of eligible ingredients. Many things, however, have remained the same, including the rigor of the selection and judging process, the impressiveness of the contestants and their recipes and the joy that surrounds each Bake-Off® Contest. That's why the Bake-Off® event has always produced a true cross-section of Americans, along with a personal glimpse of the food they cook.
Bake-Off® recipes are special because they are a reflection of how Americans are living and eating. These are not recipes created by a master chef, or the thoughts of a single company, but are the accumulated wisdom and experience of hundreds of thousands of cooks. The Bake-Off® recipes are a testament to how, what and sometimes even why Americans cook.
PILLSBURY: BEST OF THE BAKE-OFF® COOKBOOK is a comprehensive collection of the most popular BakeOff® recipes, including all of the Grand Prize--winning recipes from every contest. Most of the recipes will look familiar to Bake-Off® Contest followers, although many have been updated to conform to currently available products or to eliminate any food-safety concerns that the original recipes might have raised. These pages hold the benefit of all these cooks' experiences and accumulated cooking wisdom: their practical time-saving tips, their heirloom recipes, their innovative or improvised ideas, their diversity of background and taste and, above all, their prize-winning recipes.
PICTURE: George and Sally Pilsbury lead the parade of 100 finalists into the competition area at the 35th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Cooking and Baking Contest in Orlando, Florida.
From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This * Introduction - Bake-Off® Contest recipe is from the Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
"I must say this is the best recipe software I have ever owned."
-Rob
"Your DVO cookbook software saves me time and money!"
-Mary Ann
"Call it nutrition software, meal planning software, cooking software, recipe manager, or whatever you want. It is the software I use to stay healthy!"
-David
"Your software is the best recipe organizer and menu planner out there!"
-Toni
"Thank you so very much for creating such a wonderful cooking recipe program. I think this is the best recipe program there is!"
-Sarah
"I saw lots of recipe software for PC computers but I was having a hard time finding really good mac recipe software. I'm so glad I discovered Cook'n! It's so nice to have all my recipes in a computer recipe organizer. Cook'n has saved me so much time with meal planning and the recipe nutrition calculator is amazing!!!
-Jill
My favorite is the Cook'n Recipe App.
-Tom
