Home cooks competing for $1 million in Pillsbury Bake-Off at Fairmont through Tuesday

by Teresa Gubbins

Nearly one quarter of the entries are some kind of pizza.

The Pillsbury Bake Off is going down at the Fairmont Hotel Sunday through Tuesday, April 13-15, where 100 finalists are madly competing for a $1 million prize for best dish that uses a Pillsbury product. Here is a list of the finalists' recipes including four from the Dallas area. The DMN does a preview of the event that includes interviews with the four and what they'd do with the money if they won.

Given the fact that at least 23 of those 100 recipes are various kinds of pizza -- and that's not including the "dessert pizza"/tart -- the odds seem high that a pizza will win. The Bake-Off people often like to pick ingredients or cuisines that are trending up, which bodes well for the Tuscan spinach & tomato "crustini" ("Tuscan" is very hip right now). Indian's hot so the chutney, turkey, spinach, & gorgonzola has a shot, as does the mango, prosciutto, & goat cheese and the chicken alfredo, gorgonzola, & walnut. As for the chili-cheese dog pizza, dream on. But you never know.

The last Pillsbury BakeOff winner in 2006 (it happens every other year) was the irrepressible, unmatchable Anna Ginsberg of Austin (who admits today to feeling "a little verklempt" as her reign is about to come to an end).