It’s all in the Butter

Everyone loves a delicious treat and edibles are often a healthier alternative to smoking.  Baking allows dosing to be somewhat quantifiable, which makes the relief of medicinal cannabis more manageably available to both young and elderly patients. Every chef does it differently and there are hundreds of right ways to do it. But, as with most things in life, successful baking is all about ratios and keeping things fresh.

The best edibles start with quality clippings. Clippings should be cured and dried in whatever method is most convenient to the grower/groomer. Next, high-quality butter should be chosen, but when it comes right down to it, fat is fat. Now, fire up that food processor to break down the clippings (remove long, sugarless stems first) in order to get more plant matter in with your butter. Then, decarboxylate your mixture.

A little organic chemistry lesson – decarboxylation is the event that takes place when THCA, the dormant acid form of marijuana, is heated to a point of boiling or combustion causing it to transform into active THC (i.e. sparking a joint).  You can munch on leaves all day long, but if they aren’t heated, you won’t feel any effects.  In order to achieve decarboxylation you need fire, heat or alcohol. Tinctures, butters, chocolates and salves require boiling, while smoking and vaporizing require combustion.

One of the greatest myths of making butter, tea, and tinctures is that they will be stronger if they are heater for a longer duration of time.  The actuality is that most of that time is extraneous and completely unnecessary. The best butter simmers in a double boiler for about an hour and a half. A double boiler consists of two fitted saucepans. The bottom saucepan is filled with water which is brought to a boil. The inner saucepan uses this indirect heat to decarboxylate your mixture. (If you don’t have a double boiler, one can be improvised by using two saucepans separated by a heat resistant spacer like a trivet.) Keep your double boiler covered to contain the steam, but stir regularly. A good ratio is about four ounces of plant matter to one pound of butter. You’ll need about a cup of water in order to keep things moving in your pot. (When beginning with fresh butter, allow for a little bit of water in the butter, adjusting the recipe if necessary. However, if you didn’t use fresh butter to start, freeze it and water will separate and crystallize into ice on top. You can then break the ice away and your butter will match the consistency of fresh.) Now, you can use this cannabutter for your favorite recipe.

Following is an apple pie recipe that, with fresh butter, will make your hands tingle when you’re done kneading its crust. If it does, you know you did something right and you’re truly in for a treat!

Pie Crust Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour
2 ¼ cups cannabutter
1 tsp. white sugar
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cups ice water
1 egg
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

Directions:

Beat together the flour, cannabutter, sugar, salt, water, vinegar and egg. Once it starts forming a ball, remove from bowl, knead until hands tingle and refrigerate for half an hour. Then flour your surface and roll out your crust. Brush with egg and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Prebake for 3 minutes at 450 degrees.

Apple Pie Filling Ingredients:

6 thinly sliced apples
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. cannabutter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. flour
½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. nutmeg

Directions

Melt butter and mix together with sugar and spices, drizzle over apples in crust. Make a lattice top with remaining dough. Bake at 450 degree for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Optional: Remove from oven and brush with corn syrup thinned by water and melted cannabutter. Sprinkle Sugar in Raw all over the top and put it back in the over for a few minutes.

Makes about 12 servings. This pie was reported by eaters to achieve the mental high usually associated with smoking as well as the trademark edible related body high.