For unknown reasons, the Philadelphia area yielded the most finalists this time: 11.
The recipes - all using ingredients made by Pillsbury or their partners - are as diverse as the contestants themselves. The national pool of eight men and 92 women ranges in age from 27 to 75.
Recipes are assigned one of four categories - Breakfast & Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Dinner Made Easy, and Sweet Treats. Each category winner, announced Monday, is eligible for the $1 million grand prize. The three remaining category winners each get $5,000 and a range.
All 100 won a trip to Orlando, meals, a GE microwave oven, and $125.
The trip could be touch-and-go for Bridget Uhrich, 31, of Doylestown, and her Jumbo Burger Cups. Uhrich, information technology director for a student-loan servicing company, is due with her first baby in late April.
Some finalists are seasoned.
Devon Delaney, 51, a computer and Lego robotics teacher from Princeton, went to the Bake-Off in 1998 and 2002 - and under the rules, Snappy Joes on Texas Toast will be her last shot.
The Bake-Off runs in the family of David DeMatteo, 37, of Blue Bell, who codirects the JD/Ph.D program in law and psychology at Drexel University. His mother is a two-time finalist, and his brother and grandmother each a onetime finalist. "Pillsbury is the pinnacle," said DeMatteo, who created Caribbean Panna Cotta Pie though he says he is not a dessert fan.
Kristen Abbott, 29, of Havertown, whose recipe is for White Chocolate-Banana Crme Brle Tarts, had a sandwich featured last year on Good Morning America.
