Southampton - On Saturday, February 27, over 100 lucky folks had the guilty pleasure of serving as the jury for the Second Annual Sweet Heart Dessert Challenge sponsored by the American Heart Association featuring the best of the best from local bakers, caterers, restaurants and inns. The lucky winner would have the honor of preparing dessert for the Heart of the Hamptons Ball – the only trick was to create a heart healthy dessert that looked good and tasted even better.

Winner Tate's Bake Shop Heart Healthy Chocolate Pie.

Presented with ballots upon check-in some guests immediately stopped to pick up a cocktail but most headed straight for the dessert tables where a smorgasbord of sweet delights awaited. The ballots listed a truly dizzying array of imaginative creations including Ilona Lowenthal's dark chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries courtesy of Sugar, Sugar; Rum baba and chocolate Vegan truffles courtesy of Gurney's Beach Bakery, Kathleen Tate's Heart Healthy Chocolate Pie courtesy of Tate's Bake Shop; Lori Gilmore's Toffee Cake with lemongrass Panna Cotta; Jeremy Palmer's fig galette courtesy of Four Seasons Caterer Southampton, and last, but not least, Andrew Paules' amazing Nitro Ice Cream, maple walnut, Key lime pie and coconut jalapeno courtesy of Audrey's Fine Baked Good and 21 Main Street Restaurant in West Sayville. The "jury" found favor with all of them - no surprise there as every entry was as delicious and decadent as the next.

Longtime Hamptons' favorite a self-proclaimed "old fashioned baker," Kathleen King flying solo with no back up kitchen assistant was nervous but said, she was "thrilled to be in a competition that would help the Heart Association."

Winner Kathleen Tate.

While voters sampled these delicious desserts they also enjoyed signature cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, raffles, and great music. By the end of the evening, a winner was announced but not before the panel shared that the results were very, very close.

King of Tate's Bake Shop was announced the winner of the Second Annual Hamptons Sweet Heart Dessert Challenge. It was an incredibly close race, like a Florida Primary, votes were tabulated manually by dedicated volunteers of the American Heart Association. Winning only by a vote or two, Tate's took the prize with their heart healthy chocolate pie. Tate's will serve the dessert at this year's Heart of the Hamptons Ball on Saturday, June 26 at Hayground School in Bridgehampton. For ticket information, call 631-734-2804.

Founded in 1924, the American Heart Association is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of heart disease and stroke. To help prevent, treat and defeat these diseases ' America's No. 1 and No. 3 killers the Association funds cutting-edge research, conducts lifesaving public and professional educational programs, and advocate to protect public health. To learn more call 1-800-AHA-USA1.