To those in the know, 4/20 is the not-so-covert term used to signify that it’s time to gather together and consume some of nature’s bounty. Well-known in what used to be the counterculture but is increasingly become the mainstream, April 20 is celebrated as a holiday dedicated to the enchanting effects of cannabis.
So warm up your lava lamp, chill to some Bob Marley, and prepare to laugh till your cheeks ache. And if you wake up in the morning with your walls painted orange or the sneaking suspicion that your dog is hiding secrets from you, don’t say you weren't warned.
420 Vegan Dutch Chocolate Cupcakes
Cupcake Ingredients:
5 grams marijuana
1 cup vanilla soy or almond milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup vegan or organic cane sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 and 1/8 cups all-purpose baking flour
1/3 cup Dutch cocoa powder (or any cocoa powder)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Frosting Ingredients:
1/8 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks at room temperature
1/8 cup Earth Balance Natural Shortening at room temperature
1/4 cup Dutch Cocoa powder
1 – 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 – 1/2 Tb. espresso powder
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 cup vanilla soy or almond milk
Cupcake Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350. Do not cook on convection setting.
Break or cut the marijuana into tiny pieces about half the size of a small blueberry. In a small crockpot set to low, stir the marijuana into the canola oil. Cook for 12 to 24 hours, stirring as often as possible until the oil becomes a deep, rich brown. You want the oil very hot, but be certain not to let it boil or burn.
Pour the oil through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing with the back of a rubber spatula to push all of the oil through. The strainer mesh should be small enough to allow the oil to pass through without any of the plant matter. Discard leftover plant matter.
(You will be tempted to dry out the leftover marijuana and use it for something else. Don’t bother — it’s already released all of its magic.)
Line a 12-cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
Whisk the apple cider vinegar into the soy milk and set aside.
In a large bowl, pour the cooled, marijuana-infused canola oil. It should still measure 1/3 of a cup. Whisk in the vanilla and almond extracts. By now your soy milk mixture should have curdled from the apple cider vinegar. Whisk again briefly until thick, then mix into the other liquids.
With an electric hand electric mixture, mix until well-combined. Add the sugar and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, Dutch cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the liquid mixture and stir by hand until flour mixture is moist them mix with electric mixer for 60-90 seconds.
Distribute batter evenly into the lined cupcake pan.
Bake at 350 for 20-21 minutes.
To prepare the frosting:
In a large bowl, whip the Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks and Earth Balance Natural Shortening together with an electric mixer for two minutes until fluffy, scraping sides often.
Sift together the powdered sugar and Dutch cocoa powder, and espresso powder, then beat this slowly into shortening mixture. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Continue to beat for at least three minutes, adding splashes of soy milk to reach desired consistency.
After cupcakes have completely cooled, frost and decorate to your heart’s content.
Servings: 24 *Be aware! One cupcake is two servings. Enjoy wisely.
Wendy Rhodes is a freelance writer and award-winning author. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter @WendyRhodesFL.
