45th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest Lets You Be the Judge

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Entries for the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest are in and judging is now underway. And once again the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is letting You Be the Judge!

“Over the years we’ve received countless calls from people wanting to get involved in this iconic contest. You Be the Judge! provides consumers with a fun way to experience the contest and play a part in helping to decide some of the recipes that will compete for the $1 million prize,” said Jann Atkins, the Bake-Off® Kitchens Manager.

Beginning May 12, 2011, America will have the opportunity to vote for 10 of the 20 original recipes posted on www.bakeoff.com. The recipes will be posted in pairs every two weeks beginning May 12, 2011 (namely, May 26, June 9, June 23, July 7, July 21, Aug. 4, Aug. 18, Sept. 1 and Sept. 15, 2011) and during each two-week period, consumers will have the opportunity to cast their vote for their favorite of the two recipes. Voting is limited to one vote per person per each pair of recipes. Voters must be registered members of www.pillsbury.com and 18 years of age or older as of May 1, 2011 to participate.

The recipe from each pair receiving the most votes at the end of the two-week period will move forward in the competition and the contestant who submitted that recipe will become a finalist in the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest. Voting for the tenth and final pair of recipes will close at 11:59 a.m. CDT on September 29, 2011, and the final 100 recipes competing for $1 million at the competition will be announced mid-October 2011.

From March 25-27, 2012, one hundred creative cooks from across America will stay at the Peabody Orlando Hotel in Florida to compete in the 45^th Pillsbury Bake-Off® competition. The contest will feature 100 original recipes—90 recipes whose creators will directly earn a spot at the competition and the 10 winning recipes from You Be the Judge!

The 45^th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest is sponsored by General Mills, GE Appliances & Lighting, The J.M. Smucker Company, The Hershey Company, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Fisher® Nuts, McCormick & Company, Inc., Muir Glen® and Progresso and will award more than $1.1 million in cash, prizes and trips.

From early January through mid-April 2011, home cooks entered their original recipes in one of four recipe categories: Breakfast & Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Dinner Made Easy™ and Sweet Treats. Entrants were required to use 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, Classic Pizza Crust, Cookie Dough and Ready to Bake!™ Cookies, Biscuits, Cinnamon Rolls, Breadsticks, Crusty French Loaf, and Pie Crusts; Pillsbury® Brownie Mixes and Pillsbury BEST^®Flour.

The secondary list featured Jif®Peanut Butter, Smucker’s®Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Fruit Spreads, Crisco®Cooking Oil, LAND O LAKES®Stick Butter and Eggs, Hershey®’scocoa, baking chips or bits, baking chocolate and syrup, Fisher® Nuts, and Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk. Progresso Bread Crumbs, Soups, Broths, Muir Glen Canned Tomato Products and McCormick Herbs, Spices and Extracts were new eligible ingredients also on the secondary list.

Recipe entries are judged for appropriate use of eligible products, taste, appearance, creativity and consumer appeal. For the 45^th contest and You Be the Judge! voting official rules, visit www.bakeoff.com.

About the Sponsors

One of the world's leading food companies, General Mills operates in more than 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Yoplait, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills had fiscal 2010 global net sales of US$16 billion, including the company’s $1.2 billion proportionate share of joint venture net sales. 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, rolls, pie crusts, pastry bites and breakfast items. For product information and great-tasting recipes, visit www.pillsbury.com. Log on to www.generalmills.com for company information.

Named after legendary naturalist John Muir, Muir Glen® was founded in 1991 by a group of entrepreneurs with extensive experience in agriculture and the tomato industry. Muir Glen tomatoes are field grown and vine ripened under certified organic practices — no synthetic pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, just gorgeous tomatoes with true to nature taste. The same day that Muir Glen vine-ripened tomatoes are harvested on California organic farms, they are sent, processed and canned. For more information on the brand, recipes and other happenings, visit www.MuirGlen.com. Muir Glen is distributed by Small Planet Foods, Inc., and owned by General Mills.

GE Appliances & Lighting spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliances, lighting, systems and services for commercial, industrial and residential use. Technology innovation and the company's ecomagination^SM initiative enable GE Appliances & Lighting to aggressively bring to market products and solutions that help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. General Electric (NYSE: GE), imagination at work, sells products under the Monogram®, Profile™, GE®, Hotpoint®, Reveal® and Energy Smart® consumer brands, and Tetra®, Vio™ and Immersion® commercial brands. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com.

For more than 110 years, The J.M. Smucker Company has been committed to offering consumers quality products that help families create memorable mealtime moments. Today, Smucker is a leading marketer and manufacturer of fruit spreads, retail packaged coffee, peanut butter, shortening and oils, ice cream toppings, sweetened condensed milk, and health and natural foods beverages in North America. The Company’s wide variety of icon brands and products include such trusted favorites as Smucker’s® jams, jellies, preserves, fruit spreads and ice cream toppings; Jif® peanut butter; Crisco® oils, shortening and sprays; Eagle Brand^® sweetened condensed milk; 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, www.eaglebrand.com and www.pillsburybaking.com.

Since 1920, Fisher® Nuts has prided itself in providing only the freshest and highest quality nuts. Today, Fisher® Nuts continues its tradition of excellence as a John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (JBSS) brand. A favorite with at-home chefs looking for an easy and nutritious way to add flavor and pizzazz to any dish, Fisher ® Chef’s Naturals® Baking Nuts provide delicious baking and cooking ingredients, making everyday meals extraordinary. Fisher® Snack Nuts offer crunchy freshness and dry roasted flavor for a healthier, delicious snack any time of the day. Fisher’s fresh and delicious products can be found in stores and supermarkets under the Fisher® and Fisher® Chef’s Naturals® brand names. For more information on Fisher Nuts, please visit www.fishernuts.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 our complete product lines of butter, spreads, eggs and cheese. For more information visit www.landolakes.com.

With an extensive network of researchers, trend experts, chefs, test kitchens, food technologists, and sensory analysts, McCormick & Company, Inc. keeps its finger on the pulse of flavor. McCormick was founded in 1889 in Baltimore, Maryland. Today it is a global leader in the sale of spices, herbs and seasonings. McCormick sources high quality ingredients from far-reaching destinations to bring a world of flavors to consumers. Over the past decade, McCormick has identified emerging flavors through its annual Flavor Forecast® report. To learn more about McCormick, visit www.mccormick.com.

The HERSHEY Company, the largest North American manufacturer of quality chocolate products, also provides a wide variety of baking products for consumers and foodservice operators. The HERSHEY Company is proud to offer quality baking cocoa, baking chocolate, baking chips and pieces and syrup under the Hershey’s®, Reese’s®, Heath®, Heath® Bits‘o Brickle®, Mini Kisses® and Special Dark® brands. With such a variety of forms and flavors, making dessert a memorable occasion has never been easier or more certain! For more information, consumers may visit www.hersheyskitchens.com.