Fair Haven Bakery Makes Girl Scout Cookie-Flavored Dessert

FAIR HAVEN, NJ — It is officially Girl Scout cookie season and Fair Haven's Booskerdoo Coffee & Baking Company is taking part in the TopCookie competition. The contest where local chefs compete to see who can make the best recreated Girl Scout cookie dessert is now in its third year.

The event is organized by the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore and will be hosted at Asbury Lanes on March 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. All the cookie creations will be displayed and available to taste by the public.

Listed are the seven participating chefs and the Girl Scout cookie they have been assigned for this year.

• Amelia Caverly, Booskerdoo Coffee & Baking Company (locations in Fair Haven and Bell Works/Holmdel) – Lemon-Ups
• Chef Lauren Covas, Chef Covas Catering (Long Branch but she does catering up and down the Shore) - Trefoils
• Shannon Phillips, E. Holland Sundries (Bradley Beach) – Thin Mints
• Chef Kendall Szpakowski, Homesick restaurant (Asbury Park) - Tagalongs
• Chef Raechel Lebron, Sickles Market (Little Silver) – Do-si-dos
• James Callano, Strollo's Lighthouse Italian Ice (Red Bank, Belford, Point Pleasant, Long Branch) - Samoas
• Chef Becca Dolce of Talula's (Asbury Park) – S'mores

The chefs from these beloved Jersey Shore eateries will be presenting their cookie creations to a panel of judges, led by internationally renowned chef, David Burke. Once presented, the panel will select the winning dessert for the title of TopCookie.

In addition to the local creations, Chef Burke's executive pastry Chef Stu Marx will whip up a "welcome dessert" creation of his own. This one-of-a-kind dessert will be made using the Girl Scout's new Adventurefuls cookie.

Tickets for the contest are $80 and may be purchased along with sponsorship opportunities. The night includes bowling, dessert tastings and light snacks. Cash bar is available at www.GSFun.org/TopCookie.

All the proceeds from the TopCookie event will go to the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, which encompasses nearly 10,000 girls in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Along with Burke, the judges are:

• James Costello, chef and co-owner of Ohana Grill
• Lori Draz, Special Feature, Entertainment and Food Writer
• Nick Lepore, known as the "Burger Buff," host of cheeseburger pop-ups in NJ and beyond
• Marilyn Schlossbach, Executive Chef and Owner of The Marilyn Schlossbach Group

Initial Patch Report

With reporting by Carly Baldwin/Patch