Old Friends

I recently experienced the loss of a dear friend. We were pals for over 50 years and in spite of frequently living somewhere hard to get to, she was always there for me and always on my mind. It’s so easy to forget all the ways we are connected to each other, but when you lose someone you’ve basically grown up with the loss takes time to recover from. I miss my Toni every day, so in her honor, I came up with these little balls of goodness. My girl didn’t enjoy cannabis too much, but she’ll understand that we do. Make a batch of these and thank my old friend Toni Case.

TONI’S TRUFFLES

This recipe is one I adapted from a Brazilian confection from the ‘40s to honor my great friend Toni Case. It’s very simple and quite delicious, plus…cannabis! If your hands get gooey when you roll the little balls, coat ‘em with cooking spray. So good! To make around 2 dozen candies, you’ll need:

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

½ C. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tb. infused cannabis butter or solid coconut oil

1 Tb. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 C. dried strawberries/raspberries/chopped dried sour cherries

Sprinkles or colored sugar

Liberally oil a 9 in. square baking dish. Get everything except the sprinkles in a medium saucepan and cook, on low to medium low, for about 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently. Remember to keep the temp low so you don’t burn off any of the goodness. You want this really thick; your spatula will leave an obvious trail when you drag it across the bottom. Spread this out in the prepared baking pan and chill for at least an hour. When it’s chilled, scoop out about 1 Tb. of the mixture and roll in a cute little ball, then place in those teeny muffin cups. You can sprinkle the sparkles over or roll in the pretty stuff – up to you. If you use the 3 Tb. of cannabis butter, you’ll have approx. 150 mg. total; if you use hash butter, you’re looking at enjoying around 400-600 mg. Plan accordingly and have fun! Do keep these in the fridge and away from the littles.