The buzz at this year's Pillsbury Bake-off in Orlando wasn't so much about the recipes, but whether this was the end of the 53-year-old cooking contest.
Over the years the Bake-Off has changed to reflect changes in consumer lifestyles and tastes. For instance, in the '90s it evolved from complicated cooking to the "Quick & Easy" theme so more people would actually use the winning recipe.
But Pillsbury was purchased by General Mills last November, making the rival brands part of the same family. Yes, the Doughboy and Betty Crocker are now brother and sister.
When we asked about future plans, General Mills executives at the Bake-Off remained noncommittal, giving answers like, "Well, we're still evaluating it," or "We're observing to see how this one goes."
If nothing else, the list of qualifying ingredients — refrigerated dough, baking mixes, Old El Paso and Green Giant products — will likely be changed. Pam Becker, senior manager of General Mills public relations, told me that in order for the government to approve the sale, duplicate products were sold to another company so that General Mills wouldn't have a monopoly. (For instance, if General Mills owned both the Betty Crocker and Pillsbury cake mixes, Duncan Hines would be about the only additional major brand left on grocery store shelves.)
So the Pillsbury baking mixes and its Hungry Jack potato line were sold to International Multifoods Corporation. If the Bake-Off is supposed to promote company products, it makes sense to call it the General Mills Bake-Off and add Betty Crocker products as qualifying ingredients.
In this age of corporate expense-cutting, I imagine General Mills executives had sticker shock. A million dollars for one recipe? Then there's the cost of weeding through thousands of recipes to come up with the 100 finalists, travel and lodging for the finalists and staff to run the competition, hiring a celebrity host (this year it was Marie Osmond) and airing the TV program that announces the winner on national television.
Of course, other sponsors chip in — General Electric provides the 100 mini-kitchens, Cutco provides the cutlery and Loews Hotels provided this year's accommodations.
And they get quite a bang for those bucks. Thousands of people across America experiment with the Pillsbury products to create entries. The finalists and their recipes are featured in their hometown newspapers. Even if they don't win, they go home as local heroes and tell their friends and families about their red-carpet treatment.
Around 80 or 90 reporters come and write about the contest — hey, a million bucks is a story. And while there, we get to know and appreciate the Pillsbury folks. So now when I have a question about baking products, I'm likely to call those helpful people I already know.
A grocery chain executive told me that once the winner is announced, there's a run on the Pillsbury products in the recipe. Some become classics, such as the Tunnel of Fudge Cake that popularized Bundt pans, and Peanut Blossoms, the peanut-butter cookie topped with a Hershey's Kiss. As far as advertising goes, even Britney Spears isn't this well-exposed.
So, I predict the Bake-off will face changes, but not demise. And that's good, because it offers a (fresh-baked) slice of Americana that we need. It's a tradition that everyone sings "God Bless America" together before the contestants head for their ovens — not just when patriotism happens to be "in."
While the Bake-off no longer espouses from-scratch cooking like Grandma used to do, it fosters creativity in the kitchen rather than pulling into a drive-through.
It says that cooking is valued — even up to a million dollars.
E-mail: vphillips@desnews.com