How to make cannabis-infused ribbon candy

184 0

The traditional Christmas candy gets an upgrade through cannabis

Cannabis edibles offer a unique way to enjoy the benefits of the plant. However, they can be intimidating, especially if you’ve never tried them or have had a negative experience. Fortunately, ensuring an enjoyable, safe and responsible experience is easy. There are plenty of cannabis edibles, including some classic options like brownies and cookies, and other types of candy like jellybeans. Today’s recipe goes a bit beyond the traditional and is especially for those who aren’t afraid to get their hands a little dirty. These cannabis-infused ribbon candies will be a great accompaniment to the holiday season.

Get ready to go shopping because you’ll need the following:

1 C cannabutter
2 C white sugar
¾ C water
¼ C honey
½ C corn syrup
½ t. sea salt
½ t. vanilla or peppermint extract
4 drops of green food coloring
4 drops of red food coloring

Candy thermometer
4 cookie sheets
Saucepan with lid
Heat-safe cutting board
Heat safe spatula
Plastic or Silicone heat safe gloves
Kitchen shears
Nonstick cooking spray
Cellophane

Once you have everything organized, prepare your four cookie sheets by spraying them with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 200F, then heat the Cannabutter and honey until liquid and set aside. Next, combine your water, corn syrup, and sugar in an uncovered saucepan. Over medium heat, stir continuously until the mixture boils.

Take your candy thermometer, stop stirring, and wait until the candy reaches its soft crack stage at 269F. This process will take approximately 15 minutes after boiling. Once the proper temperature is reached, immediately remove from the heat and add the peppermint/vanilla extract, cannabis butter/honey mixture, and salt and continue heating until the mixture reaches 285F.

Take a prepared cookie sheet and pour about 1/3 of your candy mixture onto it and place it in your preheated oven to keep warm. Take a second cookie sheet and pour another 1/3 onto it and drip green food coloring on top. Place this cookie sheet in the oven as well to keep warm. Add red food coloring to the last 1/3 of the candy mixture.

Pour the last of the candy mixture onto a heat-resistant cutting board. Allow the candy to set until it forms a skin. Take your heat-resistant spatula and spray it with nonstick cooking spray; you will use your spatula to spread the candy mixture and then bring it back together. You want to work it all over the cutting board. This will allow the ribbon candy mixture to cool.

Once the candy is cool enough to handle, you’ll want to put on your plastic/silicone gloves, spray them with nonstick cooking spray, and start pulling by grabbing the candy with both hands and pulling it in opposite directions. You want it to look like a rope.

Now bring the ends of your long rope together and twist the candy into a shorter, fatter rope. Now you’ll want to pull it back to form a long rope. Continue the pulling process until the candy has a silky or satin finish. It should also have an opaque red color. (Note that if you used more food coloring than four drops, the color may be deeper and richer than an opaque).

Once the candy has cooled and is just lukewarm, but still pliable, you’ll want to pull it into a rope about two inches thick. Place it on a prepared baking sheet and place it in your oven. The candy will remain pliable as long as you keep it in the oven. Then take out your uncolored candy mixture. You’ll want to do the whole scooping process again with this mixture until the candy turns a silky/satiny off-white color.

Once the candy has cooled and is just lukewarm, but still pliable, pull it into a two-inch thick rope as you did with the red part and then place it back in the oven.

19. Now repeat the process with the green portion of your candy mixture. Remember to stop when the candy is a silky/satiny opaque green color. Create your 2-inch-thick rope with the green candy as well. Take your red and white candy ropes out of the oven. Cut about a five-inch portion from each candy log.

Place the cut 5-inch portions on your last prepared baking sheet. Keep the white in the middle. Begin to put the candy together. As the candy gets thinner, mold them together carefully. You want to end up with a single thin piece of green, white and red candy that is about one inch tall. Once your stretched and twisted candy has the final shape, take your kitchen shears and spray them with nonstick cooking spray. Then cut them into 6-8-inch-long lengths.

Immediately push them into a ribbon shape and then place them on a cookie sheet to set up. Let them come to room temperature. Repeat the pulling/cutting/ribbon forming process with the remaining candy strips. Once the cannabis-infused ribbon candy sets, it will get very hard. However, if you leave them out for too long, they can become soft and sticky. To avoid that, wrap the ribbons in cling film once they are set. Enjoy your cannabis-infused ribbon candy responsibly.