ORLANDO – The 19th Annual American Pie Council® (APC)/Crisco® National Pie Championships scheduled for April 26-28, 2013 in Orlando will soon overflow with even more heavenly flavors as Comstock® Wilderness® Fruit Pie Fillings joins the competition as a new Amateur Division sponsor.
The new sponsor will introduce five new categories in which amateur bakers may compete: Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach and Strawberry. Although participants in the five categories will be using Wilderness Comstock brand canned fruit pie fillings, they must also make the pies their own by adding at least four other ingredients in their filling. Competition entry forms are available now at www.piecouncil.org.
Comstock joins a distinguished list of competition sponsors, including Crisco® and the California Raisin Marketing Board.
A first prize winner will be chosen in each of the five Comstock fruit categories and will win $100 as well as bragging rights. Among the winners of the five flavor categories winners, an overall Comstock winner will be selected, who will win a trip to the Comstock headquarters in Parsippany, NJ to spend a day with the company’s corporate chef. The overall Comstock winner also will go on to compete for the title of Best in Show in the 19th Annual APC ® /Crisco® National Pie Championships. Throughout the National Pie Championships and corresponding APC Great American Pie Festival April 27-28 in nearby Celebration, representatives from Comstock and Wilderness Pie Fillings will conduct live product demonstrations.
The addition of five Duncan Hines® Comstock® Wilderness® Fruit Pie Filling categories brings the total number of Amateur categories to 19, including Apple, Cherry, Crisco® Classic Chocolate Cream, Citrus, Cream, Fruit & Berry, Innovation, Nut, Open, Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese, Pumpkin, Raisin (sponsored by the California Raisin Marketing Board).
“We are absolutely bubbling with excitement to add Comstock Fruit Pie Fillings as a sponsor of the APC ®/Crisco® National Pie Championships,” said Linda Hoskins, APC’s executive director, “The addition of five new fruit flavor categories in our Amateur division — Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Peach and Strawberry — is sure to make the competition more even more enticing to participants as we seek out the upper crust of pie baking hobbyists.” Of last year’s total 801 entries in Commercial, Professional, Amateur and Junior Chef divisions, 237 were from amateur bakers. The pies were judged by 195 pre-qualified volunteer chefs, bakers and assorted pie aficionados.
Each year, the National Pie Championships are held in conjunction with the Great American Pie Festival which features the Never Ending Pie Buffet. The 2012 festival was attended by close to 39,000 pie lovers, up from 32,000 in 2011, and featured an even more endless pie buffet with a mind-boggling 90,000 slices.
The American Pie Council offers individual membership for amateurs as well as professionals and commercial bakers. Pie lovers receive multiple benefits including the “Pie Times” e-newsletter, membership directory and member-only online “pie talk” access for idea exchange, pie recipes, coupons and discounted entry into the annual APC/Crisco® National Pie Championships. For more details, to become a member of the APC or to register for the National Pie Championships, visit www.piecouncil.org.
Crisco® is a registered trademark of The J. M. Smucker Company. For more information, visit www.crisco.com.
The American Pie Council® is the only organization committed to maintaining America’s pie heritage, passing on the tradition of pie-making and promoting America’s love affair with pie. The APC offers personal, professional and commercial memberships. For more information, please visit www.piecouncil.org.
Source: The American Pie Council
