Bite Me The Show About Edibles
Helping cooks make great cannabis edibles at home.
Create your own tasty, healthy cannabis edibles and take control of your high life! Bite Me is a weekly show that helps home cooks make fun, safe and effective cannabis edibles. Listen as host Margaret walks you through an marijuana infused recipe that she has tested in her home kitchen or interviews with expert guests. New episodes every Thursday.
Bite Me The Show About Edibles
Cannabis Infused Chocolate Citrus Nut Bark
Discover the magic of homemade edibles with the latest episode of Bite Me, where we explore a festive recipe from the book Stoned by Ann Allchin. Ann brings a century of counterculture to our kitchens with a sophisticated yet simple recipe for dark chocolate citrus nut bark. This episode promises to guide you through creating this delectable treat, perfect for holiday gifting or personal indulgence. Whether you're a dark chocolate devotee or prefer semi-sweet, Ann’s approachable recipes require no fancy tools or ingredients, making it accessible for everyone to impress their taste buds.
Beyond delicious recipes, this episode champions the empowering world of DIY edibles, offering insights into cost-effective methods of decarboxylation and infusion. From high-end devices to traditional ovens, explore how you can control both dosage and flavour in your concoctions. Plus, join our festive recipe challenge by sharing your creations in Bite Me community. Dive into the resources like Stoned and Butter and Flower to elevate your edibles game and help spread the word by sharing this episode with friends who might enjoy it. Let's keep the creativity—and our spirits—high until we meet again!
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Visit the website for full show notes, free dosing calculator, recipes and more.
Friends, welcome back. This is episode 278. And today we're doing dark chocolate citrus nut bark. Welcome to Bite Me, the show about edibles, where I help you take control of your high life. I'm your host and certified Ganger, margaret, and I love helping cooks make safe and effective edibles at home. I'm so glad you're here, friends. Welcome back to another episode of Bite Me.
Speaker 1:If you're just tuning in for the first time, I'm glad you found me. How did you discover the show? Let me know. You can send me a fan mail, you can send me a DM, an email, whatever you like. I'd love to hear it and I'll give you a shout out on the show. And if you've been around for a while, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to you. You can also let me know how you discovered this show, because I find it really interesting. It's a pretty small show. It spreads a lot by word of mouth and I just love getting messages from listeners because otherwise it can feel like a very solitary pursuit often this game of podcasting. But I'm glad you're here and I'm grateful that you're listening and sharing your time with me, because that's essentially what you're doing, and time is a precious commodity. It's the only non-renewable resource that we don't get back, so spend it wisely. And, of course, spending wisely can include listening to Bite Me, the Show about edibles.
Speaker 1:Now, this episode is special. I received some permission a little while back to share this recipe from Anne, and Anne is the author of a new cookbook called Stoned, with biographies celebrating 100 years of counterculture, and Anne Alchim has been a guest on this show. If you haven't already heard that episode, I will be sure to link to it in the show notes so you can find it. It was a fantastic episode led to a friendship through cannabis. Anne is a wonderful human being and she's also written another cookbook that's also equally as fantastic, called Butter and Flour, and she's also written another cookbook that's also equally as fantastic, called Butter and Flour, and if you haven't checked that book out as well, I recommend that you do.
Speaker 1:I did for this particular podcast. Well, what other podcast would it be but for this podcast? I did the Canadian Snowballs, which is quite timely as I record this in December Another great recipe to try if you haven't tried already, and I recommend both of her books. The Stoned Book is a beautiful coffee table style cookbook that is interspersed with stories, and it wasn't that long ago that I actually did an excerpt from the book on the show as well and I'll link to that too so you can check that out, so you can learn about all things Anne through Bite Me the Show about edibles because she's doing some great work in the world and I love talking about other cannabis enthusiasts, edibles enthusiasts in particular. They're doing cool shit in the world and Anne is definitely one of those people and I got to meet Anne in person at Camp Canna earlier this year and what a great experience it was. She was just as lovely in person as she was online.
Speaker 1:The dark chocolate citrus nut bark stood out in this book and I really liked the idea of the blend of chocolate and citrus. I know oftentimes, especially this time of year, chocolate and peppermint can be a nice combination, but citrus to me it's sophisticated and it's a nice sort of twist on a classic recipe. I guess I mean chocolate bark is one of these recipes that looks beautiful and impressive. It's actually pretty simple to make and the one thing I really do like about Anne's recipes that she does in her books is how approachable they are and how most of them I mean. There's, of course, more challenging recipes, as there should be in any cannabis cookbook or cookbook in general, because sometimes you want to try things that are a little more creative. That will help stretch your skills, that will help you learn more about your process and it can be really satisfying. But sometimes, when it gets really busy, like it does this time of year, you want something simple, and a lot of the recipes in this book are approachable and simple and they don't require any specialty ingredients or tools, and this particular recipe and a lot of the recipes in Anne's book are no exception. This recipe stood out. It's festive, it's easy, it's perfect for holiday gifting or personal indulgence, and I can already tell you that I had a special someone. My daughter had a birthday this month. As part of a little gift package I put together for her, it did include some of this bark, so it looks beautiful and sophisticated when you package it up nicely. So the dark chocolate citrus nut bark. Now, at the top of the page it says difficulty level, and I love how, throughout the book, the difficulty level isn't sort of a scale like you might expect to find, but it is rather a commentary from our dear author, and this particular one says my dog could make these and she's not very bright. So there you have it, my friends. This is a simple recipe that you can put together relatively quickly.
Speaker 1:Now, what are you going to need for this particular recipe? Well, first of all, you're going to need some of your favorite dark chocolate. Now, I have to admit, when I made this particular one, for whatever reason, I think I was making it and perhaps I did what I often do best, which is skim the recipe. It's right in the name, so I'm not sure how I pulled this one off, but I think I had it in my mind. I knew I was going to be doing this. I talked to Ann about it a while ago and I don't remember the dark chocolate part. So I had a lot of semi-sweet chocolate chips on hand, so I ended up using semi-sweet. It still worked out quite nicely. If you're a dark chocolate lover, this is going to the best quality dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate that you can. The quality of the chocolate is really going to make this particular recipe, because it is the recipe essentially.
Speaker 1:You're going to need your can of coconut oil in this particular instance, so you want a bit of infused coconut oil and, of course, depending on your audience. You can make this THC CBD a ratio. I have made it with and without. It's beautiful either way. I prefer it infused because well, I don't think I need to explain myself any further You're going to need almonds, pistachios and pecans.
Speaker 1:You could probably also use a blend of particular nuts that you have on hand as well. I tend to often buy nuts in larger bags at Costco, so I just use whatever I happen to have on hand. A little while ago they had Brazil nuts and those are delicious and work really well in a lot of these types of recipes. So, whatever you have on hand, walnuts would be nice in this. So the pistachios are good because they're salted, but I do realize that when I went out and bought the pistachios for what I was using these for, they were not salted, so I didn't get that salt factor. But I think that would be preferable in this particular instance, because the chocolate and the salt together would chef's kiss would be delicious.
Speaker 1:You're going to need also mixed citrus peel. Now she says in the notes here that you can get these mixed citrus peels in your in your favorite bulk food store. But I actually used actual peel and I'm not sure if that's incorrect or not, but that's what I ended up doing. I just peeled a little bit like with a with a vegetable peeler. I peeled off and then I chopped it up pretty small and use that. You could probably also use a zester if you wanted. You need an eighth of a cup, so it's not like you need a whole ton. That's what I ended up doing. It was pretty good. So that's all you need for this particular recipe and, as you can see, you need the chocolate, you need some nuts, you need some some citrus zest and, of course, your infusion fat, your infused coconut oil, and that's about it. Now. She did have some notes as well about what you might need.
Speaker 1:As far as tools go. She recommends using a double broiler or a heatproof bowl over boiling water, which is essentially the same thing. You're just sort of creating your own little double boiler system and that's how you're melting all of these ingredients together. And she suggests a citrus punch strain, which is an uplifting sativa, promoting happiness and good vibes cultivar. And I used what I had on hand, which was a, I think, for this particular one.
Speaker 1:I had made some coconut oil with some already vaped cannabis, because I have been using that quite a bit because of course, as we all know, if you're using the spent cannabis out of your dry herb vaporizer, that is already decarbed, so it's ready to go and I have a big jar of that in my pantry and I just keep that for when I need to make something quick. I usually do have some decarbed cannabis in the pantry as well, but I think in this particular instance I had used it up for something else already. So I use the already vaped cannabis because it's already good to go and that's a little fun fact If you're going to be inhaling cannabis. That's one of the reasons, one of the many reasons I like to recommend a dry herb vaporizer, because you're kind of stretching your cannabis even further. You get to vaporize it, inhale it, enjoy those beautiful terpenes in the high and then you can save the spent cannabis and use it directly in your edibles later. So you buy once, use twice, like brilliant, isn't it? And of course there's some health benefits to using a dry herb vaporizer over your typical combustion, which I think a lot of people really enjoy.
Speaker 1:And if I'm being completely honest, I dry herb vape in my house, where I would never smoke a joint in my house and as an ex-smoker I have a lot of reasons for that. I'm not really a big fan of the lingering smoke smell that tends to cling to clothing and curtains and all these things. And I know cannabis smoke is very different than cigarette smoke, but I said I have that association with it, so that's. And I'm asthmatic as well. So these are all reasons why really joints are not my preferred way to consume if I'm inhaling cannabis, but a dry herb vaporizer also. This smell doesn't really linger the same way and it dissipates very quickly. So I will use those inside and use them often, and my roommate never seems to notice. Now I tend to keep it in one area of the house, which would be my own private quarters, but I've never gotten any complaints. So that's another reason why I like it, because it's December now, it's cold, it's snowy, it's shitty out and going outside to consume cannabis really doesn't appeal to me, which is another reason why I love edibles as well, because I can eat one and just ride that.
Speaker 1:Come up in the nice cozy living room in front of the warm fire. You don't have to go anywhere, it's just beautiful, doesn't that sound nice? So anyway, that's a bit of an aggression, but those are the ingredients that you're going to need. Now the preparation steps. Of course, if, when it comes to the infusion, if you already have and a lot of people really do like coconut oil as an infusion you need eight tablespoons. So it's not a lot, but a lot of people will make larger batches. So you know, having infused coconut oil on hand, it's useful for so many different recipes. So you're going to, of course, if you don't have this on hand already, you're going to have to decarb and infuse your coconut oil first. And, of course, if you need a refresher on decarbing or infusing your cannabis, I'll link to some resources in the show notes for that as well. It's pretty simple to do.
Speaker 1:If you're new to making edibles, then by all means check them out. It seems intimidating at first, but eventually you get sort of a process going. And then you next thing, you know you have a little pantry or section of your kitchen where you store some of the things that you need for making your edibles, and that may or may not include devices or fancy equipment. It doesn't have to. The one thing I love about edibles is that you can get as fancy as you want. You want to buy yourself an expensive tea check device where you can figure out the potency of your edibles with a margin of error of like 3%. I think it was. That may have changed with the new device, but you by all means go ahead and buy one of those things. But can you also figure it out with a certain degree of accuracy by using an online calculator or the math and a pen and paper? Yes, you can.
Speaker 1:Can you decarb using a device like an Ardent or a Levo 2 and spend the money that way? Of course you can. But you can also use your oven, which you already own, and can you infuse in a magical butter machine or some other pricey gadget that will infuse your oils and fats and butters and other things. Of course you can spend all you want. But if you don't want to, if it's not your budget, if you're not interested, if you're, you don't have the kitchen space for another another gadget, then you can do it right on your stove with a pot, some water and a jar.
Speaker 1:I mean, this is what I love about edibles. You can. It's taking control of your high life, and I know I've talked about this so many times on this show, but it really gets me excited, because I sometimes feel like things are weird. Right now there's it's just a weird time to be alive and a lot of the times I think people are maybe getting a little consumption fatigue, and I love the radical self-reliance that comes along with making your own edibles and taking control of these things and having control over the whole process, and that control starts right from how you want to spend your money when it comes to edibles. I will tell you, of course, making your own edibles is far less expensive than buying them at the store, and this comes from someone who interviews lots of people on this show who are making beautiful edibles and beverages for people to buy, and I have no qualms with that.
Speaker 1:I have tried many lovely beverages and edibles and I do like to see what's new out there, what's innovative, what's interesting to see what's going on in the industry. I love all of that stuff and there are some really cool brands out there doing some very interesting things and pushing the envelope a little bit and trying to bring quality products to the market that you would be proud to share with your friends or your family, because, I mean, it's quite easy to also get really cheap edibles out there as well, but the more interesting ones are the ones that are using super high quality ingredients, because if you're going to spend the money on it, you might as well get the best that you can afford, because you can make it for far less, far less money. But I do love to see what's out there and of course, I still go to my dispensary. I actually buy quite a few beverages when I go to the dispensary because I'm often using those in social settings as well, so I do like those quite a bit and I buy edibles. Typically, when I'm going to a dispensary I'm buying primarily beverages, sometimes edibles, occasionally weed, because also beverages, sometimes edibles, occasionally weed. Because also, if you're a grower and you know growers, then you also have the benefit of being able to supply your own medicine for whatever it is that you're making. Now I didn't mean for this to go, for me to go on such a rant, so apologies.
Speaker 1:We'll get back to the regularly scheduled programming where you are preparing a double broiler but you're also preheating the oven because you're going to line a baking sheet with parchment paper or one of those silicone baking mats. I just got one of those silicone baking mats recently it was a specialty one for making sourdough bread, and it actually is fantastic, and I'll probably save money on parchment paper because I can reuse this over and over and over again, and it does help the bottom crust of my bread not get really hard from being right against the pan. The baking pan, anyway, that's a whole other thing, but the silicone baking mats are fantastic. Either way, whatever works, you're going to toast your nuts until fragrant for about five to 10 minutes. So that's a little extra step that adds a nice little sophistication to this particular recipe.
Speaker 1:You're going to melt most of the chocolate with the cannabis infused coconut oil in your double broiler. You stir it really well and then you're going to remove it from the heat. You're going to toss in the remaining chocolate, stirring it again until that melts as well, and then you're going to put in your nuts, the toasted nuts that you had in the oven, and also the citrus peel. And you're going to put in your nuts, the toasted nuts that you had in the oven, and also the citrus peel, and you're going to make sure they're completely covered, and then you're going to pour the chocolate nut mixture onto the still prepared baking sheet that you got out earlier, yes, the prepared baking sheet that you had for toasting the nuts, so you're able to sort of use the pan twice instead of having to get something else dirty, and you're going to put it on the pan and let it refrigerate until solid in a few hours. That's it. That's it. It's so easy, so easy and it looks so nice.
Speaker 1:Now, the real secret, I think sometimes to making it look even more sophisticated is to slice it into triangular shapes or pretty triangular shapes, and that's what I did, and that really gives it a nice look to it and you can see sort of the bumps from the nuts, and it's delicious. I have eaten a god awful amount of this chocolate bark, and I know I've said that about fudge as well. I have made, I think, three batches of fudge so far this holiday season. Yeah, I don't think I'll be stepping on a scale until 2025, because I just don't want to know. And who cares? Life is too short, isn't it? I'm making delicious edibles, I'm going to eat them and, yes, I have a sweet tooth. I am going a little overdrive because I like to make a lot of things and give them to friends and family over the holiday season, but this chocolate bark. If you want something simple and beautiful that you can make, then this is the recipe for you.
Speaker 1:Now, as far as calculating the dosage of your infused oil or butter, it is something that you should probably do, in particular if you're going to be gifting this to anybody or sharing it with anyone, and what I would recommend is head over to buybepodcastcom. I have a calculator over there somewhere. I'll link to it in the show notes. You can find it easily, but that'll allow you to calculate approximately how much cannabis or how much THC or CBD is going to be in your recipe. Bear in mind, this isn't foolproof. Of course, you need to know, like, how potent your cannabis is that you're starting out with, and depending on where you got that cannabis from, like maybe it's already vaped bud, which means it's a mixture of different cultivars and you don't really know. I mean, you might be able to guess or guesstimate, but that also means, right off the bat, your potency results are going to be not a hundred percent accurate, for obvious reasons.
Speaker 1:Now, if you bought your cannabis at a dispensary and it's labeled right on the package, then you have a much better idea. But I think you should do it anyway, because this way you get to the habit of calculating the dosage and it becomes less intimidating the more you do it. And of course, even just that framework or that range when you're gifting an edible to somebody makes people more aware of what they're consuming, even if it's not 100% accurate, and I think that's really important. So if you gift somebody a piece of this chocolate bark and you're saying, well, it's approximately 20 milligrams per piece, that person then has the information they need to make an informed decision. If it's a little off ideally it's a little higher rather than too low but you can always recommend that they cut it into smaller pieces if they're unsure of their own tolerance. But at least it gives them a framework because they're not going, they're not eating it blind, if you will, without any idea of how strong this piece of chocolate is that you're giving them and I've had I know I've mentioned this before.
Speaker 1:I'm probably I'm sure if you've been listening to this show for a while, you've heard me mention it as well that I've been gifted edibles before and, you know, wrapped in tinfoil, with good intentions no doubt, because people know that I like edibles. But if they don't have any idea how potent they are. I really don't want to take them. I have funny stories about when I have over consumed on edibles and I can laugh about them now because it happened a while ago. I'm not in it at the moment, but any of you who have ever overdosed on cannabis knows all too well what a painful, painful experience it is to over consume edibles.
Speaker 1:This stuff is not for the faint of heart, but in the right dose it's beautiful and we all know this. This is why we're making edibles. This is why we're talking about edibles. So do some of the calculations. If you don't like the calculators, if you scroll right down to the bottom of the page, it shows you the math. So you can actually try doing the math on your own as well. It's not that difficult once you know the steps and just try and cut the bark into portions. That will make it easier to figure out the potency. And, of course, don't forget to label. Even if you're gifting it, be able to make sure that it's clearly labeled that this is infused with cannabis, if that's what you're going to do, and putting it in a little festive container or tin will really up the ante when it comes to presentation, and presentation is everything. So the dark chocolate citrus nut bark is a beautiful edible that you can make easily, relatively quickly. I mean, if you don't factor in the time that it takes to solidify in the freezer, this comes together relatively quickly. I mean, I think you're probably 10, 15 minutes hands-on time in the kitchen and that's it and you're not making a huge mess.
Speaker 1:I would love to hear your experience about making this particular recipe, how it turned out, any fun tweaks or personal touches that you added, because I love to hear about this stuff. This dark chocolate citrus nut bark would pair beautifully with maybe what would go nice with this? A spiked holiday cocktail perhaps, or some hot chocolate. If you really like the chocolate, you could double down on the chocolate a little bit. I'm thinking eggnog if you really want to go super rich and I do admit I love making eggnog every single year. I don't buy it. I make it in all its full creamy, fat glory, with way too much sugar and egg, and it is delectable and I could see this being very nice even with that little, that little twist of citrus. But what would you pair with it? I would love to hear that.
Speaker 1:I encourage you to try this recipe, share your results on social media and tag me if you want, or also you can come on over to the Bite Me Cannabis Club if you're making something festive. I do have a December challenge going on over there that is open to everyone, even if you're not a member of the club, and you could post some of your images over there as well and how you made this recipe your own too. I would love to see it. I invite you to check out Stoned and Butter and Flour by Anne, and I'll link to those in the show notes. Like I said, if you know somebody that would enjoy this episode, I encourage you right now to get out your phone and text them this episode right away, because that helps people discover the show. With that, my friends, I think that's it for this week. I'm your host, margaret, and until next time, stay high.
