KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — New York held its Hot Dog Eating Contest to celebrate Independence Day. But the Florida Keys had a sweeter alternative Tuesday.
The Key Lime Pie Eating Championship in Key West, where Key Lime Pie originated, was won by Joshua Mogle, a 38-year-old tire maker from Altoona, Iowa.
Mogle dove face-first into a 9-inch cake smothered in whipped cream during the challenge, which rules forbid contestants to use their hands.
Sticky competition has become a subtropical substitute Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Mogle consumed the confection in three minutes and 35 seconds, beating 24 competitors. The highlight of the five day event in Key West was Key Lime Festival.
“Eat…eat…eat…always have cake in my mouth,” Mogle said when asked about the strategy he was using.
Experts believe Key Lime Pie was developed in Key West in the late 1800s. Its main ingredients are condensed milk, egg yolks, and the juice of tiny yellow limes, typically with a graham cracker crust and whipped cream or meringue topping.
In 2006, the state legislature named the tart, creamy dessert the official cake of Florida.
The competition came less than 24 hours after the creation of a 13.14 foot (4 meter) diameter Key lime pie to be submitted for certification as the world’s largest pie, made to celebrate the Florida Keys Bicentennial.
July 3rd marked the 200th anniversary of the Florida Territorial Legislature’s establishment of Monroe County, which encompasses the entire Keys island chain.