Louisville, Kentucky may be known for horse racing, the Louisville Cardinals, and Kentucky Fried Chicken but there are some sweet spots that deserve just as much attention. For our Capstone project in our summer Online Journalism class we decided to go local and visit our favorite ice cream parlor, donut shop and candy store. We talked to the owners, tasted some of their products and uncovered some of their sweet secrets.
Nord’s Bakery on Preston Street is our number one donut shop in Louisville. Owners Mike & Lynn Nord, took over the shop 12 years ago and it has received local and national attention ever since. Nord’s is known for its unique bacon donut, a long john pastry with maple icing and a slice of bacon on top. Mike said, “It started out as a joke, and we took the idea from Voodoo donuts in Portland.”
Tourists that pass through Louisville have made a stop at Nord’s for this infamous donut. Mike also said, “Our best sellers are the glaze, followed by the long johns and crème filled long johns.” The US News and World Report have Nord’s ranked in their top 12 donut shops in the US. “A man from the Wall Street Journal came in one day, we didn’t know it was him until he came back 30 minutes later and told us,” Nord said.
As a group, we’ve all had the opportunity to eat a Nord’s donut. They taste amazing and the atmosphere around the shop smelled like delicious freshly baked donuts. We walked inside and were immediately caught up in the morning rush. It took us a few minutes to get our interview with Mike, but we really appreciate his patience and understanding. His hospitality, tasty donuts, and local feel is why Nord’s Bakery is our favorite donut shop.
Our next spot we visited was Muth’s Candies, a family owned and operated candy store. Muth’s Candies opened in 1921 and has been selling assorted candy and chocolate covered delicacies ever since. Since it is a family owned store we had the opportunity to interview Sarah Vories, daughter to the shop owner. She said, “Our shop is a city block long. It goes from Market Street to the alley.” As we stood on the shop floor, we didn’t believe it. Once we were given a grand tour of the property, we realized how much effort goes into making their candies.
The first room we saw was the chocolate room. It was a small room filled with assorted chocolates in separate containers. It was definitely overwhelming at first. Sarah explained each of the chocolates and the different designs on top of them. We ventured into the kitchen where she explained the process of how candies, caramels, and their bourbon balls are made fresh every day.
Their bourbon balls are a family recipe and one of a kind. Sarah said, “It’ has 100 proof Imperial Barton Bourbon, nuts, powdered sugar, and chocolate.” Sarah offered for us to try their famous bourbon ball and McKay, another group member, did the honors. He said, “I can’t put my finger on the taste, but it doesn’t taste bad.”
Once we finished our tour Sarah offered to give us some candy to leave with. We each got a bag of their chocolate turtles, which is pecans, carmel, and chocolate. We took a few pictures, chatted, and then went on our way. We were given the VIP treatment and felt like part of their family while we were there. Muth’s Candies is our favorite candy spot in Louisville, adding to our list of sweet places.
Our last location that we are going to share is the Comfy Cow ice cream shop. Since they have grown to three locations, we visited their original location on Frankfort avenue. We pulled up to the store and we were surprised to see an all pink Victorian styled house attached. We entered and walked around, taking pictures and videos. We got to sit down and interview one of the owners, Tim Koons-McGee. He was very nice to us and willing to share any information on their franchise.
Comfy Cow is best known for its interesting flavors and are currently serving a goat cheese ice cream. They have the Comfy Cow Challenge. It include 15 scoops of ice cream, one pound of whipped cream, carmel, hot fudge, cherries, and nuts. All together it weighs seven pounds and they have one hour to finish it. It was featured on Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel and the host Adam Richman failed miserably at it. Tim said, “That day was crazy for us. They were here early in the morning and didn’t leave until midnight.”
We had a great time visiting the Comfy Cow. They treated us to a scoop of ice cream and enjoyed our time spent with them. Their ice cream was delicious and the fact that they were also local to Louisville meant a lot to us. There are many ice cream places in Louisville and we boldly say that Comfy Cow is our favorite.
Our “Keep Louisville Sweet” adventure was a great opportunity to meet some of the locals and how they started their passion for sweets. They all showed great hospitality and were very patient with us and our questions. We thank them for their sweet treats, great personalities, and delicious sweet treats.
Myself with The Strive
In Tune 