Behind the Scenesat the Bake-Off^® Contest

If you saw our first installment of the Bake-Off Confessional Booth, it captured the feelings of the finalist’s right before the event.  Well, we brought the booth back!

Forget being a finalist. 

For Deborah Huber, winner of the members-only Bake-Off Bound sweepstakes, being a spectator at this year’s Contest was just as much fun. “It’s almost even better because I get to relax,” she said.

The ballroom at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando is buzzing with the big news: Christina Verrelli from Devon, Pennsylvania, was just announced as the grand-prize winner of the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest! The recipe that clinched the title (and a million dollars)?

Guest blogger Kristina Vanni joins us for a post from the Contest floor.

Yesterday was the big day! The 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest began with the traditional "Grand March" of contestants, and at 8 a.m. sharp, all 100 lined up at their ovens in their quest for the $1,000,000 prize. My mom and I cheered from the press area and could feel the electricity and excitement right along with the contestants. It was such a thrill to still be a part of the Bake-Off action, this time from a whole new perspective! 

One of the best things about attending the Bake-Off Contest is getting to meet and mingle with the finalists. And there’s no better place to do that than at the opening night dinner, where they’re celebrated—and fed well—before heading off to (hopefully) get a good night’s sleep.

The five finalists at my table couldn’t have been more interesting, hailing from different parts of the country and from incredibly varied backgrounds. One thing they had in common was their excitement at meeting each other—you never would have guessed by all the laughing and joking that went on that they had been strangers to each other before Sunday.

Want a sneak peek into the real-time, raw emotions of the finalists?

This year, the Bake-Off Confessional Booth was introduced to give contestants a chance to let us know exactly how they’re feeling while emotions are at an all-time high. See the confessional videos now!

The excitement has been growing all day and the buzz of the crowd is energizing. After checking in, the finalists were off to a good start with their GE appliance and contest orientation sessions. They should have a good handle on how the contest will work tomorrow so hopefully they relaxed for a bit at the welcome dinner tonight. The anticipation is crazy fun.

Here are the final three videos of the Bake-Off® finalists who appeared in “The Road to the Bake-Off Contest” segments on The Martha Stewart Show on Hallmark Channel this past week. The Martha Stewart Show airs on Hallmark Channel at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT.

The Pillsbury Doughboy has. Yes, there actually was a shopping list used in prep for this year’s Bake-Off Contest. Yes, a list this big definitely would have caused some stares at the checkout aisle. Thankfully, awkward stares were avoided since a local Orlando retailer, Publix®, helped deliver all of the ingredients needed for the 100 recipes. Here are some of the numbers behind this year’s grocery list:

• 279 Land O'Lakes® eggs
• 102 sticks of Land O'Lakes® butter
• 104 pounds of sugar
• 78 onions
• 35 oranges

So what else is on the list?

It’s almost here! My anticipation of the Bake-Off Contest is skyrocketing. In just a few short days, I’ll have the honor of witnessing the best of the best face off for a chance at 1 million dollars! This event is the equivalent of Christmas morning to me, surrounded by amazing food and the even more amazing people who create it.