This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

How to Win a Baking Contest Without Baking

Castro Valley man has become an expert on entering and winning contests. One prize: a trip to Sunday's Emmy awards.

Robert Hoffman won a national baking contest without baking, and he says you can, too.

His prize from a recent Duncan Hines cupcake challenge is a trip to the red carpet at the Emmy awards Sunday in Los Angeles. The 50-year-old Castro Valley man has won trips to Jamaica, Alaska and the NASCAR race track in North Carolina, too.

Hoffman calls himself a "contest enthusiast," and—with prizes like that—he is living proof that enthusiasm begets ever more reasons for even greater enthusiasm.

Find out what's happening in Castro Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In the Duncan Hines 1 Million Cupcake Challenge, all he did was mail in a 3-by-5 note card. No baking, no recipe, just the card.

“Every contest, by law, must have a no-purchase-necessary option. I sent a 3-by-5 card to the company with my name, address, and phone number and I got selected as an alternate winner,” Hoffman said.

The FCC requires organizations to offer a “no purchase necessary” option if they plan to broadcast their contest.

Find out what's happening in Castro Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Duncan Hines asked people to sign up on its website as part of a Great American Bake Sale to take place in contestants' hometowns.

Those who sent in box bottoms from Duncan Hines products were entered to win a trip to Los Angeles for a seat at the red carpet at the 63rd annual Primetime Emmys.

The contest began April 11 and ended July 24. Its goal was to sell a million cupcakes to raise money for Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization working to alleviate childhood hunger nationwide.

“I entered because it seemed like a fun promotion and a worthwhile cause,” said Hoffman.

Hoffman first became interested in competitions 30 years ago when he entered to win 100 gallons of gas at a Castro Valley service station.

Since then, Hoffman has won a NASCAR trip to North Carolina to race other contestants and then brought home the first-place trophy, a Castrol motor oil-sponsored trip to the 2002 Superbowl, a 14-day Alaskan cruise provided by the Taylor Family Foundation and a Wendy’s-sponsored trip to Jamaica.

More recently, radio station Star 101.3 told Hoffman he won a trip to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in an upcoming tour. He entered this contest simply by “liking” the station’s Facebook page.

“I enter raffles at malls, churches, anywhere,” Hoffman said. “I’m a sucker for that stuff.”

The other four winners of the Cupcake Challenge are Lisa Bender of Royersford, PA; Christine Blake of Sandy Springs, GA; Jamey Frails of Augusta, GA; and James H. Giroud of Fair Oaks, CA.

The winners’ best recipes will appear on www.duncanhines.com/bakers-club to be shared with bakers across the country.

For more information, visit www.pinnaclefoods.com or www.strength.org.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?