There’s something about comfort food that unites people from all walks of life. Just thinking of taking some “me time” to enjoy comfort food is enough to salivate anyone.
Unknown to many is that there’s a simple way to take comfort food to the next level. Of course, we’re talking about CBD, the hemp plant’s main compound. The USDA made hemp products legal across the US through the introduction of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, paving the way for a change in how we regard cannabis and cooking.
By infusing CBD into comfort foods, not only can the delicious flavors make you feel good, the CBD will soothe your mind and body. These effects are due to CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties and potential treatment for anxiety disorders.
What You’ll Need To Infuse CBD Into Recipies
There are several ways to infuse CBD into food; however, our favorite way is using raw CBD flowers cut directly from hemp plants. Other recipes might call for CBD extracts, and although those work as well, there’s something about raw CBD flowers that gives them an extra kick in potency.
Some believe natural CBD flowers are more potent because of the “Entourage Effect” phenomenon. This is the synergistic relationship between cannabinoids like CBD with other cannabis compounds like terpenes.
Our CBD flower for cooking is the Lemon Skunk by HempElf due to its natural zesty flavors that pair excellently with both savory and sweet recipes. This CBD flower is also covered in trichomes, which are the resin heads that contain crucial cannabis compounds like cannabinoids and terpenes. We’ll want lots of these to make our comfort food edibles as strong as possible!
How To Infuse CBD Flower Into Recipies
Regardless of the recipe, at some point, we’ll need to transfer all the good parts from CBD flowers into our food. This is done through a straightforward infusion process.
Because we’re making comfort food, we’re going to focus on how to infuse CBD flowers into delicious butter. To start with, we’ll need the following materials:
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment paper
- Oven
- Saucepan
- Cheesecloth
- A jar
- A herb grinder
We’ll also need the following 3 ingredients to make our cannabutter:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 10 grams CBD flowers
We’ve created the perfect 6-step recipe to make cannabutter:
- Decarb the CBD Flower: All cannabis needs to be “decarboxylated” to activate its compounds for effective absorption. If we were to skip this crucial step, the cannabutter wouldn’t have any noticeable effect upon consumption! Preheat the oven to 245F, cover your baking sheet with parchment paper and use your herb grinder to grind 10 grams of CBD flower. Spread the ground flower evenly on the baking sheet and heat in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Mix the CBD flower every 10 minutes to help expose all sides of the flower to heat.
- Melt Butter: Using your saucepan, melt 1 cup of unsalted butter at a low temperature. To help avoid the butter from scorching, add 1 cup of water to this mixture.
- Add Decarboxylated CBD Flowers: Now add your decarboxylated CBD flowers to the butter mixture.
- Simmer & Infuse: Time to transfer cannabis compounds to the butter! Simmer on low heat – if you have a thermometer, it’s best to aim for 160-200F. Leave for 2-3 hours.
- Strain The Mixture: Cover the top of your jar with cheesecloth and pour the CBD flower and butter mixture through the cloth to collect a smooth green liquid in the jar. Discard the CBD flower, as it will no longer have any material worth using.
- Refrigerate: We now have an active CBD-infused butter that we can use across most comfort food recipes. To store it safely, always keep it in the refrigerator.
Of course, this method is just one of many ways to infuse your recipes with CBD. For a deeper look into how you can take your meals to the next level, we break down 4 CBD cooking tips we think you should know.
And here’s a great clip that shows you how to make cannabutter:
The Ultimate CBD-Infused Comfort Food
We’ve created the following recipe with 2 things in mind; taste and potency.
Interestingly, not all meals are a perfect fit for infusing CBD. This is because CBD, by nature, is fat soluble, meaning you wouldn’t be able to dissolve it in water. Therefore, only meals with a rich fat or sugar content can effectively transport CBD into your body for a relaxing effect.
Mile High Chocolate Fondant
Ingredients:
-
- 200g CBD-infused butter
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 50g caramel sauce
- 200g chopped dark chocolate
- 4 tbsp espresso coffee powder
- 6 eggs, but all we’ll need are 6 yolks and 3 egg whites.
- 75g golden caster sugar
- 50g plain flour
Materials:
-
- Pudding Basins
- Baking tray
- Fridge & freezer
- Heatproof bowl
- Pan
- Whisk
Method:
-
- Brush the inside of your pudding basins with 50g of CBD-infused butter. Put them on a baking tray and let the butter set in the fridge. Brush another layer of CBD-infused butter and top it with dusted cocoa, placing back in the fridge to set. Next, take a pinch of sea salt flakes, mix them with 50 grams of caramel sauce, and put this in the refrigerator.
- Take the remaining CBD-infused butter, chocolate and coffee powder and tip them into your heatproof bowl. Set a pan of water to boil, and place the heatproof bowl over it – making sure the bottom of the bowl never touches the water. Stir until smooth, adding another pinch of sea salt. In another bowl, whisk together 6 egg yolks, 3 egg whites and 75 grams of golden caster sugar until very pale. Once the egg mixture is thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted, it’s time to sift the flour into it. Then carefully fold the flour and egg mixture into the melted chocolate.
- Remove the pudding basins from the fridge and fill each compartment halfway. Place the filled basins on a baking tray and leave them in the freezer for 30 minutes to set the mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of the salted caramel sauce into the middle of each fondant, top up the remaining fondant mixture to the top of each compartment, and return to the freezer until frozen.
- Preheat the oven to 390F and place the fondant-filled basin in the oven for 15 minutes until a crust forms on the top and they start to come away from the sides of the bays. Let them sit at room temperature for 1 minute before transferring them to warm plates. Voila! Your CBD-infused chocolate fondants are ready to send you into deep, delicious relaxation.
Conclusion
Thankfully, CBD infuses best into foods that taste delicious due to its tendency to dissolve well into fat. You can take our CBD flower infusion process to turn any of your favorite baked foods into something that can spruce up the way you eat any day of the week.
We do advise taking it slow and steady as you start with CBD-infused foods. Getting to know how CBD affects your ability to work, drive and perform in life is essential before you start infusing CBD into all your meals!
