What
is more refreshing now that summer has arrived than a delicious frozen
popsicle? This recipe provides an elevated mid-afternoon cool down for
over-heated adults, and it’s so easy to do.
The
popsicles in this recipe contain 10mg of THC—which is twice the New England
standard for an individual edible on the legal market. This is an ideal dose
for most adults, but as with all edibles, the effect is slow to appear (wait up
to 1 hour for the feels) and can last for several hours. Proceed with caution
and do not eat more than one! If you are buying your weed in a dispensary, you
will find that most strains contain about 20% THC. Choose something you like to
smoke, perhaps with a nice fruity terpene profile that will taste great in your
popsicle.
For
cannabis with around that 20% mark of potency, you will only need half a gram
for this recipe so you will have to find another use for the rest of your
purchase! The flavor of the cannabis can be quite strong for some people’s palates,
which is why I like to use fruits like mango or pineapple that pack a tropical
punch and even a bit of jalapeño and lime to spice it up.
The
sky is the limit in terms of flavor combos here, but the important thing to
remember is that the active compounds in cannabis are only soluble in
fats or in alcohol. Since we are creating a non-boozy popsicle here, we are
using coconut milk as the carrier fat for the THC. If you are not vegan and
want to experiment, you can use heavy cream or milk and different fruits like
berries, but the coconut flavor is key in this recipe.
For
a non-psychoactive cannabis experience, you can skip the flower-infusing step
and add a squirt of your favorite CBD extract to each popsicle at whatever
dosage you enjoy—this will make for a relaxing refresher as well.
You
will need
·BPA-free
popsicle mold, hard plastic or silicone. Most of these molds come in a set of
10 and they hold 3 ounces of liquid. Available in most kitchen goods shops.
·Small
saucepan and a small metal bowl for a double boiler
·Fine
mesh metal strainer
·Blender
·Rubber
spatula
Preparation
Time
30
minutes
Depending
on your freezer, 5 hours to overnight to freeze
Servings
10
popsicles with 10mg THC each
Ingredients
3½
cups of fresh or frozen mango (or pineapple)
1
cup coconut milk (the rich creamy stuff from a can)
4
tbs of agave/honey or sweetener of your choice
1
lime (yielding 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice plus the grated zest of that
lime)
1
pinch of salt
1
inch chunk of fresh jalapeño without seeds (optional but delicious!)
½
gram of approximately 20% THC cannabis flower (ground or chopped finely)
NOTE:
if you feel 10mg is too strong and would prefer 5 mg THC popsicles, use ¼ gram
of cannabis.
Place
all the ingredients—except the cannabis and the coconut milk—in the container
of your blender.
Place the coconut milk in a small metal bowl set over a small
sauce pan on simmering water, this is known as a double boiler or bain marie. Add the ground
cannabis and let sit over the heat for 30 minutes to infuse—the water does not
need to boil violently, the idea is gentle heat to decarboxylate
your cannabis, which is a fancy way of saying activate. You can stir the
mixture now and then, make sure it isn’t burning around the edges. It should
smell fragrant. Some people have had success doing this process in a microwave
but I find it unpredictable, if you choose to try it, place the cannabis and
coconut milk in a ceramic bowl and microwave on low for 2-3 minutes, stir,
check for burning, and zap again for a minute or two.
Place
the fine mesh strainer over the blender container and pour the coconut milk
through, pressing firmly on the plant material to squeeze out every drop of
infused goodness. Discard the cannabis.
Blend
the mixture on liquify or highest setting until
smooth and pour into your molds. Scrape the blender well with a rubber spatula
to get every drop.
Freeze
and enjoy safely! Try serving these in a frosty glass of coconut water or combo
of seltzer and limeade. One of the trendiest new things in the world of
mixology is a cocktail garnished with an ice pop, so try this lightly infused
version with your favorite seltzer or Prosecco (but always be careful when
mixing cannabis and alcohol, everyone’s tolerance is different!), or in a CBD-infused
drink for a nice balance of cannabinoids.
PLEASE
NOTE: Always be sure to carefully label any cannabis-infused products clearly
in your home so they cannot be mistaken by children as something safe for them
to consume. Also, when serving them be sure to make it clear to everyone that
these are for ADULTS ONLY.
This article appears in July 2021.
