3 must-try dessert recipes to treat yourself this Women’s Day – News
Celebrate YOU!
With Women’s Day around the corner, indulge your sweet tooth and treat yourself to your favourite dessert
Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
• 150 gm unsalted butter
• 150 gm light brown sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 125 gm self-raising flour
• 25 gm cocoa powder
• 12 Ferrero Rocher
Nutella Buttercream
• 150 gm unsalted butter (at room temp.)
• 300 gm icing sugar
• 150 gm Nutella
Decoration
• 12 Ferrero Rocher
Steps
Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and prep your cupcake cases.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, and then add in the flour, cocoa powder, and eggs.
Beat again until smooth, then split evenly between the cases.
Pop a Ferrero Rocher on top of each cupcake, and push it in ever so slightly.
Bake in the oven for 17-20 minutes, or until baked. Cool completely.
Buttercream
Beat the unsalted butter (best at room temperature), for a couple of minutes until smooth.
Add in the Nutella and beat again briefly.
Add in half of the icing sugar and beat it, and then the other half and beat it.
If its too thick, add in 1tbsp of boiling water at a time till it becomes pipeable.
Fill your icing bag with an open flower tip (or any tip that you have available) and pipe the Nutella Buttercream on, then sprinkled on some hazelnuts, and add another Ferrero Rocher on top!
Vanilla Cakepops
Ingredients
• One box of Vanilla cake mix or your favourite home-made vanilla cake.
• Other ingredients called for on the box including water/oil/eggs
• Make the cake following the instructions on the box
• Cakepop sticks or straws
For frosting
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 ¾ cup icing sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons heavy cream or milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coating
• 2 cups of white candy melts or white chocolate (make sure to use the best quality)
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
White sprinkles
• Yellow food colour — optional (add to melted chocolate and drizzle over the cakepops)
Steps
Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan or baking dish.
Prepare the cake batter according to the instructions on the package.
Bake according to the instructions (30-35 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Let the cake cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
Keep a flat baking tray (you can use a plate too) lined with baking paper / parchment paper
Frosting
Add softened butter into a large bowl, and beat the butter with a handheld mixer on medium speed until creamy
While the mixer is running, add 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar. Mix until combined. Add heavy cream, vanilla, candy the rest of confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time.
Increase the speed to high and beat for 3 more minutes.
Make the frosting by beating the unsalted butter in a stand mixer or use a handmixer. Beat the butter till its pale yellow in colour and then gradually add the icing sugar. If the icing is too thick, add a 2 – 3 tsp of milk or heavy cream.
Once the cake has cooled down, put in a large bowl. Use your hands to crumble the cake and then add the frosting (little at a time as you may not need all of it. Mix well till you get a dough like consistency ( it takes 2-3 mins)
Make small balls out of the cake mix. Place them on the lined baking tray. Place them in the fridge to cool down for 20 mins
Meanwhile melt 2 tbsp of the candy melts / chocolate (50 gm) in the microwave at 30 second intervals and stirring in-between (be careful as it can burn easily).
Dip the tip of the cakepop sticks into the melted candy melts/chocolate. Then insert each stick into a call ball about half-way.
Freeze for about 30 minutes.
Cake Balls
Right before they are ready to be taken out of the freezer, melt the rest of the candy melts / chocolate. Add the oil and mix well. Pour the mix in a tall glass.
Dip the cake ball into the coating until it’s completely covered. Gently tap the stick against the edge of the glass to allow excess coating to drop off.
Decorate the top of the ball with white sprinkles and place upright into a box. Repeat with the remaining cake balls.
Rasmalai Cheesecake
INGREDIENTS
For the crust/base :
• Digestive biscuits (crushed) 2 1/2 cups
• Unsalted butter (melted) 150 gm
For the batter :
• Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature) 500 gm
• 1 tin (370 gm) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup (220 ml) whipping cream (cold)
• 10-12 pieces/500 gm rasmalai
• 1 cup rasmalai liquid (the same syrup in which you get the rasmalai)
• 20 gm gelatin
• 1/4 cup water (to bloom gelatin)
• Saffron (few strands)
• Pistachio sliced for garnish
• Rose petals for garnish (optional)
METHOD
Brush a 10 inch springform baking pan with butter and keep aside.
Mix the crushed biscuits and butter, transfer the mix to your greased baking pan. Press the mix down with the back of a spoon and level it. (I like to push the spread up onto the sides of the pan). Chill for 30 minutes.
In a stand mixer or a hand mixer, add the cream cheese and mix for a minute. Now add the condensed milk and mix well. (scrape the bottom of your bowl if using a stand mixer)
Add the whipping cream, rasmalai water and saffron strands.
Bloom gelatin by adding 1/4 cup water, mix well and keep aside for 5 minutes.
Then microwave for 30 seconds.
Add the gelatin to the cheesecake batter.
By now the biscuit base will be firm and chilled.
Take the rasmalai pieces, squeeze a little and add on top of the biscuit base.
Gently pour the cheesecake batter over the rasmalai pieces and refrigerate for 6-8 hours or preferably overnight.
Garnish with rose petals and pistachios.
To remove the cheesecake from the pan, let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes and gently open the springform pan.
3 must-try dessert recipes from some Louisville tastemakers
We live in a time where it’s possible to simply speak into the air in your kitchen and ask for a recipe, when blogs and Pinterest and TikTok, let alone cookbooks galore, offer up an infinite supply of recipes. It’s no surprise then, that sometimes all you want is someone to tell you what to make. Especially if it’s a recipe that comes from someone you know and love.
Today we have some very special (and sweet!) recipes from two tastemakers in Louisville’s culinary scene, and one of my own personal favorites.
Lindsey Johnson of Lush Life Productions and Bar Expo, 114 W. Main St., is sharing her grandmother’s recipe for rainbow cookies. Inspired by cookies found at Italian bakeries in Long Island where Johnson is from, these treats helped her get through the early pandemic quarantine days.
“The amount of work that goes into just one batch was more than I expected,” she told the Courier Journal. “But, I have to say, they turned out so well!”
Kathy Aphaivongs of All Thai’d Up, 211 S. 5th St., is offering up her great Aunt May’s Kentucky State Fair-winning chocolate meringue pie.
“Apparently, I am now the only one in the family who can make it,” she says, “and no matter how many desserts are at the table, if the chocolate meringue isn’t there, I am sure to get grief from everyone!”
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And I’m dipping into my time spent in southwest France where I did a culinary writing residency learning about duck. One rainy day, a fellow student and I had some extra duck fat and time on our hands and dreamed up decadent chocolate cookies that I’ve been dreaming about ever since.
Rainbow Cookies
Courtesy of Lindsey Johson of Lush Life Productions and Bar Expo, 114 W. Main St.
Supplies:
- Three 8-inch-by-13-inch Pyrex/glass pans (or Teflon, but it needs to have straight sides)
- Parchment paper
- Almond filling (recipe follows)
- Food processor
- Mixer with a paddle and whisk attachment
- Sifter
- Kitchen scale
- Double boiler (or use a pot and a bowl)
Almond filling
- 1 cup blanched almonds
- 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg white
To make the almond filling: Whisk (using the mixer with the whisk attachment) egg white until it forms stiff peaks, and set aside.
Process almonds, sugar, and butter in the food processor until the almonds are very finely ground, and stop to scrape the sides of the bowl every 30 seconds or so. This takes longer than you might think.
Add almond extract and the egg white and let the processor go again until it’s all mixed. You can refrigerate this for a week. This makes exactly the amount you’ll need for one batch.
Make sure you bring it down to room temp before you use it in your cookie batter.
Rainbow Cookies
- 8-ounce almond filling (that’s all of the almond filling you just made)
- 1-and-1/2-cup butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs (separated)
- 2 cups cake flour, sifted
- 8-ounce raspberry preserves (available canned in the grocery baking section)
- 12-ounces chocolate chips
- Red and green gel food coloring
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and set them aside in a bowl.
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In your mixing bowl, mix the almond filling, room temp butter, sugar, egg yolks, and extract until very light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients (sifted flour, salt) and slowly incorporate that into your wet ingredients.
Take the mixing bowl off of the mixing stand after all of the ingredients are incorporated. Slowly mix stiff egg whites in with a wooden spoon until they are completely mixed.
Divide the mix into three even bowls (ideally, one pound each). Add red food coloring to one. Add green food coloring to another. Leave one natural.
Grease all three 8-inch-by-13-inch pans and line them with parchment paper; grease that too. Bake each layer separately for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Make sure you don’t let them brown.
Let the cookies fully cool (ideally overnight). Peel the parchment paper off of each layer and lay on cooling rack.
Warm raspberry filling in a pan. Spread between the layers and let cool. Cut the cookies into three columns.
Set up a double boiler. Once the water in the boiler is at a full boil, add the chocolate to the top pot and let it melt. Once it is fully melted, cover each of the columns in chocolate and let it cool. Once the cookies are fully cooled (ideally put them in the fridge or freezer for an hour or two), cut them into serving sizes.
Kentucky State Fair winning Chocolate Meringue Pie
Courtesy of Kathy Aphaivongs of All Thai’d Up, 211 S. 5th St.

Ingredients:
- 1 9-inch cooked pie shell
Chocolate filling:
- 2 cups milk (2{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} or whole)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Meringue:
- 3 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
To make the chocolate filling: In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, chocolate, cornstarch and salt. Place on medium heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Spoon the hot mixture into a bowl with the egg yolk and mix well. Pour egg mixture into pan and stir on med-low heat until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla until butter melts. Pour mixture into cooled, baked pie crust.
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To make the meringue: In a mixer, add egg whites vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat on high until soft peaks form. Slowly add in sugar and continue to mix until a gloss forms (1-2 minutes).
Once the chocolate filling is cooled, add the meringue and spread covering the filling completely. Place the whole pie in preheated oven at 400F for 2-3 minutes or until the meringue turns a golden brown.
Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.
Double Chocolate Ducky Cookies
Courtesy of Courier Journal freelance food writer Dana McMahan
Note: I made these with what we had in the kitchen. If you prefer white flour to the heartier kind, go for it.

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup spelt flour
- 1 cup buckwheat
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup duck fat, room temperature [check Red Hog or Kingsley’s for duck fat; butter will suffice if you can’t get your hands on any]
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Mix eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl.
In another bowl mix flours, cocoa, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and oatmeal. Stir in duck fat.
Mix the two bowls and stir in chocolate chips.
Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes until puffy and browned.
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Tell Dana! Send your restaurant “Dish” to Dana McMahan at thecjdish@gmail.com and follow @bourbonbarbarella on Instagram.

