How to Make a Cannabis-Infused Feast (Weed Mac n Cheese, plus a Weed Lava Cake)

For a lot of people, marijuana invokes images of red-eyed, Cheeto munching stoners lounging about on a mangy couch, probably laughing at something that isn’t even funny. While that may have been a golden age for marijuana, things are different these days. As the herb becomes more mainstream, more states are allowing adults to use it recreationally and this, in turn, has created an opportunity for a lot more people to have access to and use marijuana. This has led to some very interesting developments, especially in the culinary world.

Cannabis has proven itself very malleable when it comes to application, and if you do it right, you can put it into almost any food or beverage. These days you can find weed in everything from pastries to soft drinks. And we all know that eating your cannabis makes it a lot more potent and it packs a much bigger punch than say, smoking or vaping. However, let’s forget about common edibles like gummy bears and weed brownies for a minute and dream a little bigger.

Today, we’re going to whip up a cannabis-infused feast. The recipes are easy and simple, and with the right equipment, you’ll be digging into a potent, delicious meal in no time. We’ll be making cannabis-infused Mac n Cheese followed by a weed lava cake. Let’s get started!

Ingredients.

Most of the ingredients you need to make weed brownies can be bought off the shelf, except for cannabis butter, or cannabutter. It’s a combination of cannabis and butter that’s used to make weed edibles, especially baked goods like brownies and cookies.  Fortunately, whipping up a batch of cannabutter is a piece of cake. Here’s what you need;

• 1 cup (7-10 grams) of cannabis buds
• 1 cup of butter
• An oven that can be heated to 240 degrees Fahrenheit.
• A non-stick oven-safe baking tray and parchment paper.
• A double boiler.
• A strainer.
• Cooking twine or hemp cord.

The appeal of edible cannabis is undeniable, but unfortunately, a lot of people often skip a step that’s integral to making edibles, and that’s decarboxylation. In simple terms, it activates the THC, the chemical that makes you high, and this makes your weed-infused dishes potent.

The process removes the COOH group from the THC-A molecule by releasing water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2), resulting in a potent THC molecule. This occurs naturally when you burn cannabis, say in a joint or vape, so we have to replicate it. Only this time, instead of burning the herb, we’re going to be heating it up to a certain temperature for the reactions needed to turn THC-A and CBD-A into THC and CBD.

If you skip this stage, you’ll end up with a dish that smells like marijuana but does not have the psychoactive punch cannabis edibles are known to have.

Instructions.

Preheat the oven to 245 degrees Fahrenheit (low heat for a longer period preserves the cannabinoids). Place your ground-up buds onto the tray and cover it up with the parchment paper to avoid sticking. Put the covered tray in the oven and set a timer for thirty to forty minutes for kief, and 60 minutes for cannabis trim. Buds that are a little older and drier may require less time. Gently mix the buds every ten minutes to make sure their entire surface area is equally exposed to the heat.

When you’re making weed butter, you want the cannabis to be as fine as possible, so grind the decarboxylated cannabis twice after it is done cooling off. Once you’re done, wrap your cannabis up in the cheesecloth and secure it with the cooking twine. This will give you a higher quality of cannabis butter.

Add water to the bottom of the double boiler, put it on heat and add the top boiler. Dice your butter to make it melt faster, and put the cubes into the top boiler. Turn the heat on low and let it cook until the butter has melted entirely.

Once the butter is melted, take the cheesecloth-wrapped cannabis and put it into the butter. Add a cup of water, and uncover the pot every thirty minutes to stir the mixture and flip over your cannabis pouches. Do this for two hours, then remove the bowl from the heat.

Get your strainer (has to be good enough to filter out the fine organic material) and put it over another bowl. Run your cannabis butter through it till most of the plant matter is filtered out. Don’t worry if your cannabutter has brown, cloudy portions in it. Cover the pot of strained cannabutter and refrigerate it until it cools and hardens.

Pass the frozen butter and brown water through the strainer again, and the two will separate, with the butter remaining on top. Reheat the butter, strain it into a new bowl and voila, you have a bowl of potent cannabis butter.

With this batch of cannabutter, you’ll be able to make an array of cannabis-infused food. Don’t feel like cooking but still crave a high? Put some of the cannabutter on a few slices of toast and have a go at it.

Weed infused Mac n Cheese

Now let’s get to the good part, the weed-infused Mac n Cheese! Here’s what you’ll need for that;

Equipment;

• Deep fryer or saucepan
• Mixing bowls
• Oven-safe pots
• An oven that can be heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• A whisk

Ingredients;

• Half a cup of cold cannabis butter plus 1 tablespoon of melted cannabis butter
• Half a cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of flour
• 4 cups of milk
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• A quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 pound penne pasta, cooked
• 1 cup of shredded smoked mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of American or Swiss cheese
• Three-quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• A quarter cup of breadcrumbs

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put in a large pot over medium heat and melt the cannabis-infused butter and the regular butter together. Add the flour and whisk the mixture for 3 to 5 minutes while it cools. Using another medium pot over high heat, bring the milk to a boil. Slowly add the heated milk to the mixture of butter and flour, whisking it to make sure it mixes in well. Add the salt, cayenne pepper, and the black pepper, and continue to cook the mixture until it reaches a boil.

Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the cooked penne and cheeses. Next, pour the penne mixture into a greased 9 by 13-inch soaking dish. Combine the remaining Parmesan with 1 tablespoon of melted cannabis-infused butter and sprinkle it on top of the penne. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until its golden brown and bubbling. Your Weed Mac n Cheese is ready to be served!

Weed Lava Cake

And now to the dessert, a scrumptious weed lava cake. This needs less than 30 minutes to prepare, and the result is something worthy of a fancy restaurant playing subdued music.

Equipment;

• 4-ounce ramekins
• Electric mixer
• A double boiler

Ingredients;

• Half a cup of cannabis butter
• 3 eggs
• A third cup of white sugar
• 4 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• Six 1oz squares of semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

Instructions;

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour four 6-ounce ramekins. After that, put the double boiler, with the bottom part filled with water, on the heat till the water starts simmering. Place the chocolate and cannabis butter in the top part of the double boiler. Stir the melting mixture frequently, scraping the sides with a rubber spatula to keep the mixture from scorching. Do this for at least 5 minutes until the chocolate is melted.

Combine the 3 eggs and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl and using your electric mixer, beat it until it’s a thick, pale mixture. This should take 5 minutes at most. Pour in the melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and flour and mix until they combine into a batter. Now pour the batter into the prepared ramekins and place them on a baking tray.

Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 10 to 13 minutes until the sides are set while the middle is jelly-like. Let it cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Before we go…

Don’t forget that eating your weed is a lot more different from smoking or vaping it. The THC has to go through the digestive tract before getting to the liver, and while this can take anywhere between an hour and three hours, it results in a more potent, longer-lasting high. Different strains have different THC and CBD concentrations, so make sure you know how potent your herb is before you start making cannabutter.

Strains that are known for their mind-boggling highs include Sour Diesel, White Widow, Casey Jones, Golden Goat, and Lemon Skunk. If you’re looking for something more subdued, you could opt for strains like Bubba Kush, Granddaddy Purple or White Fire Alien OG.

Bon appetit!