OAKVILLE, Ont. — One lucky Canadian will be able to add their dream doughnut to the Tim Hortons menu and walk away with $10,000 as winner of the Duelling Donuts contest, launched Wednesday by the coffee chain.
Home chefs have until July 21 to concoct a unique doughnut idea inspired by a family recipe.
Eight quarter-finalists will present their creations to a celebrity panel, including musicians Deadmau5 and Jann Arden and actress Sophie Tweed-Simmons. She's the daughter of Shannon Tweed, a St. John's, N.L.-born actress and model who is married to Kiss bassist Gene Simmons.
After the panel chooses four semifinalists to advance, the public gets to pick two pastries they want to see sold at Tim Hortons.
The finalists will be announced Sept. 1 and sold in Tim Hortons restaurants across Canada early in the new year, with the most popular confection taking home the grand prize.
In 2014, Jennifer Brown of Glencoe, Ont., beat out almost 77,000 other entrants with her "Love Reese to Pieces" doughnut, which will be available at Tim Hortons shops for a limited time starting July 15. This chocolate doughnut, filled with a custard centre, is covered in chocolate fondant and topped with chopped peanuts and mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
This is the third year for the contest, launched after Jason Priestley created a doughnut named after himself — "The Priestley," a strawberry-vanilla doughnut with a chocolate Timbit nestled inside — in an episode of "How I Met Your Mother."
