LIHU‘E — Lenore Klass will miss the Prince Kuhio Day celebrations Monday. The talented baker from Po‘ipu will spend the holiday in Florida doing what she does best; baking desserts. And if she succeeds in taking top honors at the
LIHU‘E — Lenore Klass will miss the Prince Kuhio Day celebrations Monday. The talented baker from Po‘ipu will spend the holiday in Florida doing what she does best; baking desserts. And if she succeeds in taking top honors at the Pillsbury Bake Off she’ll come back to Kaua‘i a million dollar richer.
“We’ll start at 8 a.m. and have four hours to finish three desserts (same recipe),” said Klass, Hawai‘i’s only bake-off finalist, as she waited for her husband Bob at Lihu‘e Airport. “One of the desserts is for the judges, one is for the photo table and the other is if we want to distribute it to the people such as the Pillsbury dignitaries and guests on the floor.”
At stake is a million-dollar grand prize which will be announced Tuesday on the Martha Stewart TV show on the Hallmark Channel. The announcement is scheduled for 10 a.m., Eastern Standard Time — 4 a.m. in Hawai‘i.
Klass was selected as a finalist — one of 26 in the Dessert category and 100 among four categories — for her Orange Cream-Chocolate Tarts recipe from the numerous entries which flooded the Pillsbury offices from around the country.
“We’ll all be out there baking,” Klass said. “Bob will be seating in the spectator section, videoing the process. Do you realize you need to be an ‘official spectator’ to seat in the spectator section?”
Following the baking, Klass said they need to be available for the Martha Stewart Show Tuesday where the announcement of winners will be made, and beyond that, she doesn’t know what to expect.
This is not Klass’ first trip to the finals of the famous bake-off. During the 2010 Pillsbury Bake Off, Klass entered the contest on a suggestion from her husband and finished as a finalist. She ended the 2010 competition with the Jiff Peanut Butter Special Award for her Banana-Peanut Butter Cream Tart recipe, inspired on Elvis Presley’s favorite sandwich, made with peanut butter and banana.
For that recipe, Klass used the apple bananas growing in her backyard in Po‘ipu. But when she got to Florida she had to settle for bananas sold in their local grocery stores, despite offers from the Big Island to have apple bananas flown to Florida.
This year, Klass said she started out using Florida oranges for her recipe, the citrus coming from Times Supermarket.
“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed for when they announce the million-dollar winner,” she said.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
