PILLSBURY BEST OF THE BAKE-OFF COOKBOOK: Recipes from America's Favorite Cooking Contest

The 53-year old Pillsbury Bake-Off competition is still America's most well-known and popular cooking contest. This newly revised volume sums up the accomplishments of talented amateurs, with nearly 400 recipes from past competitions, including recent prize-winning dishes. Lavishly illustrated with mouthwatering photographs, the volume shares a short history and general cooking tips, then delves into the recipes, themselves a portrait of American cooking over the past five decades. There's the Tunnel of Fudge Cake, which won the 1966 prize and put the Bundt cake pan into the home cook's kitchen; as well as Golden Sesame Loaves, a 1988 winner that reflects "the growing interest in more nutritious yeast breads in the 1980s." Covering all the usual recipe categories, from Main Dishes to the newly introduced Quick and Easy Main Meals, the book is especially strong in the baking arena, probably because in the contest's early years, the only qualifying ingredient was half a cup of flour. Now the list of possible qualifying products has lengthened considerably, allowing contestants to give full range to their imaginations. With small descriptions (including nutritional information) of each dish and many helpful hints and tips, the book is a useful general cookbook for any bookshelf—and of special appeal to chefs aspiring to the Bake-Off Crown. (Feb.)