A sweets showdown ensued Friday night at Tampa's InterContinental hotel, where the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida held its annual Dessert First fundraiser.
After the cocktail-attired crowd and three judges roamed a ballroom full of silent auction baskets and, more importantly, local chefs' Girl Scout cookie-inflected desserts, guests voted for their favorites.
Defeating five other contenders, the Columbia Restaurant and Roy's came out on top with their one-of-a-kind treats.
Columbia chef Geraldo Bayona and his chocolate-covered Samoa Bomb were the judges' winning pick, granting the eatery the Golden Whisk award for a second year in a row. And the crowd's choice, a Silver Whisk, went to the Everything But the Kitchen Sink Peanut Butter Pie from Roy's chef Felicia LaCalle.
Although LaCalle was the evening's lone Tagalongs-slinging competitor (she said peanut butter and chocolate "match with everything"), Bayona wasn't the only one to incorporate the scouts' venerable caramel-coconut Samoas into his dessert.
On one side of the room, Dough, last year's crowd favorite, integrated the cookie throughout its S'more Samoas. And so did InterContinental, with its Samoa Sensational Whoopie Pie served alongside a vanilla milkshake.
Tina Contes, Dough's general manager, said the bistro-bakery crushed Samoas to dust for flour used in the s'mores' brownie-like crust. House-made marshmallows, browned by a mini blowtorch, and ice cream topped off the treat.
Dessert First went on hiatus in 2010, according to Jennifer Medeiros, who manages public relations and media for Girl Scouts of West Central Florida. She said the event was reintroduced last year "because people like it so much."
Chef Adam Hall of Maggiano's Little Italy, who occupied the other half of the ballroom, fashioned one of the scouts' newer sweets, Savannah Smiles, into his blueberry-tinged Savannah Smile Crisp, while Thin Mints — another toothsome cookie staple — were used in Macaroni Grill's Exquisite Thin Mint Cookie Cheesecake and Brio Tuscan Grille's Thin Mint Mocha Panna Cotta.
Macaroni Grill general manager Jason Baldwin said he wanted to take a risk by creating cheesecake for the competition, and that he knew Thin Mints would work well. His dessert combined mascarpone and ricotta cheeses, mint jelly and more.
Nearly 21,000 gals from eight counties, including Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk, are served by the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida, which runs its cookie-selling season from January 'til March.
Once the season kicks off, Medeiros said, the scouts are set to debut two new flavors: Rah-Rah Raisins and Toffee-tastic.
The first, an oatmeal raisin cookie, boasts Greek yogurt chunks, and the second, with bits of toffee, is the Girl Scouts' first gluten-free sweet.
This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2014.