IStock Photo 10943806 © Stepan Popov

Sue Compton's Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups just made her a million dollars in the Pillsbury Bake-Off. How soon before we see her, and them, on TV?

It’s tempting to make an analogy between the time-honored Pillsbury contest and the current glut (gluttony?) of cooking shows on cable channels. But the more appropriate television metaphor for this American institution might be Survivor. We won’t go so far as to suggest renaming the famous cooking contest Baking Survivor: Heroes and Villains, but there is always the threat, according to Bake-Off rules, that some villain might “attempt to undermine the legitimate operation of the contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair practices.”

The last person standing in the Pillsbury Bake-Off receives a million dollars in prize money, after undergoing a process every bit as demanding of endurance, dexterity, and problem-solving as that featured on Survivor. In contrast with Survivor, however, the Bake-Off allows us to benefit along with the winner: we come away with a winning recipe tested for taste, appearance, creativity, and perhaps most important, consumer appeal.

This year marks the 61st anniversary of this home economics tradition, although whether economics—or its frugal ideal, anyway—actually contributes to winning this survival-of-the-fittest contest is debatable. Many cooks try more than once, and the effort and cost of ingredients make it a labor of love for the vast majority, rather than a path to riches.

The contest began in 1949 as women were returning to the kitchen after World War II. The Cold War between the USA and USSR was getting underway—not to be confused with another “cold war,” pitting new Kelvinator refrigerators (cold clear to the floor) against Servel Gas refrigerators (featuring “Jet Freeze”). Soon, Sunbeam was offering the combination Food Chopper-Meat Grinder and the Hi-speed Drink Mixer for those quick Mad Men martinis. Appliances, much like superpowers, were jostling for a new world order.

Politics and appliances may have been complicated as the 20th century reached its halfway mark, but the rules for Pillsbury Bake-Off recipes were simple. The only required ingredient was Pillsbury Best Flour. Today that’s changed. Each recipe must fall into a specific category and must include two or more eligible products. And not just any two Pillsbury products. Contestants must choose one ingredient from List A and a second ingredient from List B in the quantities mandated.

The process of determining which recipe wins the Pillsbury contest begins the summer before the award ceremony. Online voting determines 10 finalists. Judges select 90 more. An even 100 brought their hopes and pans to the final bake-off in Orlando, FL, April 11-13.

These days, when all our refrigerators are “cool all the way down to the floor,” fewer people are baking than when the Bake-Off began: the present odds that an adult will bake at least once a week are 1 in 14.02. Even at once a month, the odds improve only to 1 in 6.45. Maybe, just maybe, some of this year’s irresistible-sounding Pillsbury Bake-Off recipes—if not the winning Cookie Cups, then maybe the Mile-High Peanut Butter-Brownie Pie—will inspire some amateur cooks to improve those baking odds.