The 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest

Wow! Now that’s what I call a food event! I’ve never seen anything like it! The Pillsbury Bake-Off® was fun, exciting, and even somewhat intense at times– there was $1 million at stake!

How the contest works:

The 100 finalists have 4 hours to make their recipe and submit the final product to the judges. The finalists can make their recipe up to 3 times, and then they must choose the best “batch” to enter into the contest. One overall Category Winner is chosen in each of the following four Recipe Categories: Breakfast & Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Dinner Made Easy, and Sweet Treats.

Each finalist has their own cooking station with an oven and all of the ingredients that they will need to prepare their recipe. (There are also “runners” on the floor just in case the finalists need any last-minute supplies.)

There are also designated refrigerators for cold ingredients.

The 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® commenced with a Grand March of all 100 contestants.

Everyone in the room was so excited– finalists and spectators. The energy was contagious! I couldn’t help but clap along to the music with everyone else.

At 8 o’clock on the dot, it was time to start the contest! Ready? Go!

The finalists got right down to business. I was actually surprised to see so many relaxed faces among the finalists. I would be so stressed if I were completing in the Bake-Off, but the majority of the finalists seemed calm and collected. I’m sure they probably practiced their recipes a zillion times before today though!

As a member of the media, I had special VIP access to the cooking area, so I was able to get up close and personal with the finalists. But, for the first 20 minutes, only the finalists were allowed to enter the cooking area, so they could focus.

While cooking, the finalists took breaks to answer questions from the media and allow for photos.

When each of the finalists finished making their recipe, they officially submitted it to the judges. Each submission was a mini celebration– everyone cheered and moved out of the way for the finalist.

As you already know, the reason that I attended the Pillsbury Bake-Off® was to represent Eggland’s Best Eggs!!!

Eggland’s Best Eggs were everywhere at the contest! In fact, 44 out of the 100 finalists included them in their recipe.

Here are just some of the wonderful EB egg entries:

Savory Breakfast Pizza

Muffuletta Quiche Cups

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes

Blueberry Muffin Tops

Almond-Apricot Galette

You can see photos of all of the 44 recipes that included Eggland’s Best Eggs in the slideshow below. There were so many delicious-looking ones!

Not surprisingly, my favorite part of the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest was sampling the recipes! After the finalists submitted their recipe to the judges, they shared what was leftover. It was awesome! I tried so many yummy things!

My favorite recipe of the day was an appetizer: Candied Bacon and Apple Canapés. Holy yum! I hope this one wins! We actually gave it the Blogger’s Choice Award!

Of course, I enjoyed the majority of the desserts that I tasted!

I really enjoyed the Oatmeal Raisin Cheesecake Crumble, which was another recipe that included Eggland’s Best Eggs.

And, of course, us bloggers had a fun time while working!

There were about 10 bloggers covering the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest this year.

Yowsahs! That was a monster post, wasn’t it?

I hope you enjoyed reading my recap of the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest. I wouldn’t have been able to attend without the support of Eggland’s Best, who sponsored my trip. THANK YOU so much, EB! It had an amazing time today!

And here’s some cool news about the Bake-Off…

For the first time in the contest?s 60-year history, Oprah Winfrey will announce the $1 million grand prize winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest. Following the April 12th awards show in Orlando, the four category winners will fly to Chicago, where Winfrey will reveal which recipe is the million-dollar grand prize winner on the April 14th live airing of ?The Oprah Winfrey Show.? Through the power of media, Oprah Winfrey has created an unparalleled connection with people around the world. She is supervising producer and host of the top-rated, award-winning ?The Oprah Winfrey Show.?