Fresh from the Pillsbury Bake-Off

 

 

I’m pretty exhausted, having just returned from the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off in Nashville, Tennessee. Pillsbury knows how to throw a cooking contest. I understand that there were over 100,000 recipes and I was thrilled that mine was one of the 100 that were chosen as finalists. This isn’t something I do.  I cook, a LOT, but I don’t enter many cooking contests, I have only entered 2 recipes in recipe contests before, and my FIRST recipe I ever entered into the Pillsbury Bake-off, on a total whim no less, was chosen to compete.

Nashville was a great location choice. I grew up in the Midwest but had never driven down to Nashville. The town was great, the music was fantastic, the food, well, I didn’t get to eat much there, since there was that Bake-Off thing going on, but the Pork Belly and the Lamb Tartare appetizers at Etch were amazing. Yep, Lamb Tartare. I had never heard of that before either, and it was so much better than it sounds. Plus the waitress steered us over to Roberts afterward for music and it was good OLD country fun. My husband and daughter showed up for the fun, and they had a blast together watching.

 

Pillsbury and their sponsors did a great job organizing, arranging and putting on the event.  It’s amazing what they do to prepare: 100,000 recipes to read, 1000s to test, 100’s to test again and again and that doesn’t even include the ordering of food, equipment, utensils and everything else that goes into the cooking day. I used to be in marketing and set up auto shows and worked industry conventions so it was fun being on the other side and watching what was happening. The “swag bag” was fun to get, full of all kinds of goodies from all the sponsors.
At my first bake-off lunch I happened to sit by three ladies who also competed the year before. They were “pros” who had a fun little clique going on and were true friends made the year before that continued through social media. It was evident that they kind of lived for this, having submitted more recipes than they were willing to admit, so they could have another shot at the ONE MILLION DOLLAR prize. I found out that one can only compete 3 times in their lifetime or until they win the big prize, whichever comes first. I also learned that one is supposed to get all of the recipes in the Bake-off cookbook signed by the people who created the recipes. I didn’t really work too hard on that one. I did get the requisite photo with the Pillsbury Doughboy though, good sport that he is, getting poked in the tummy constantly. And yes, he giggles.

 

I was surprisingly calm the morning of the Bake-off. We were given our aprons and lined up for the Grand March on the blue carpet. Led by the doughboy and celebrity chef Carla Hall to fiddle music, I danced my way in to the big ballroom/kitchen and started cooking. I learned that even though Pillsbury’s official recipe was adjusted to having flour to sprinkle for rolling my dough, I didn’t get the flour since it wasn’t on my original recipe. The women next to me learned that they should have specified that they needed dark baking sheets since their pizzas never did crisp right for the judging. Yes, you have to be THAT specific. There were camera’s everywhere, prearranged interviews of contestants with interesting stories (two sisters both competing, a guy who’s grandmother won years ago, an 89 year old great grandmother who last competed in 1961…)

Contestants have 3 1/2 hours to make, bake and turn in their recipe for judging. I turned in mine early, so I just kept making more to pass out to journalists, industry guests, workers, bloggers and fellow contestants. People were coming over to tell me that they heard they HAD to try my entry. They flew off the platter as soon as I put out more. I felt good about that and thought I had a chance to win my group.

The smells were interesting. My area was mostly savory, then walking down another row, I got the sweet breakfast smells, then the smells of cookies and pies at another end. Honestly, I could hardly taste the sweet ones, I had had my fill of bread and sugar, how do the judges do this?

When the awards were given, I agreed with the judges for most of the prizes…until they got to the winners of each category. I really thought I had a chance, but looking at it later I realized I had two fatal errors; using lamb, which isn’t easy to get in most American stores, and not highlighting the Pillsbury product enough. People who “don’t like lamb” liked my dish, and I didn’t have any leftovers at the end of the day.

The recipe that won the category “Savory Snacks and Sides” was referred to as “cute” twice by the judge. He never mentioned that it tasted great, just “cute”.  But you know what, it was beautiful. I thought it was a little bland and too creamy but it looked really good, and good looking food sells product, marketing 101. (If you make it, I suggest adding some Spanish Chorizo and cilantro to give it some zing.)

No one I talked to could understand the judges choice for Simply Sweet Treats. I had about 1/2 tsp taste of it and that was 1/2 tsp too much. There were SO many beautiful and great desserts to choose from so I just didn’t get it. I know they liked that it used the product in a different way, so maybe that was the key. Some people were really mad that it was chosen. I wasn’t in the category so it didn’t really matter to me, but it just wasn’t that good. Strange choice.

The Amazingly Doable Dinner winner was good, probably one that I would make. At first I wondered why someone would make a Cuban sandwich that way, when you could just make it the regular way, but then I thought it would be a good way to make a lot of them to take to Music in the Park or tailgating or on a hike. If they go over well, maybe I’ll make it more than once!

The Weekend Breakfast Wows winner was pretty good too. Chocolate Doughnut Poppers were filled with Jif Chocolate flavored Hazelnut spread. I wasn’t wow’d by them at first, but then I saw the video of how easy they are to make and thought they might go over well at the lake cottage in the summer. My daughter doesn’t like doughnuts, but she likes crescents so maybe this would work for her.

I was so happy I had the opportunity to participate in this bastion of Americana. I might try again but I will probably be making something healthy so I hope I can still get a shot at winning. I’ve always liked a balanced meal that tastes great too.  Maybe I can do that and still showcase their product “cutely”. I’ve always liked a challenge too!