AuthorInfusedEatsA Rum based Cannabis tincture is the basis for these Rum Balls that will rev up the party at the Holiday or anytime.
Because this recipe is a cold one with no heating required it will be necessary to fully decarboxylase the cannabis to activate the THC so we get a good head high.
So first grind it to a coarse meal then bake it in an oven for 1 hour and 50 minutes at 225 degrees F. This process will smell up your entire house so you can use a sealed container to keep down the odor if you like. Once completed your cannabis will be slightly browned and highly aromatic with a pungent ammonia smell. But don’t worry, this is a good thing. Now we can move on to the next step.
For this step you need to start with freezing cold materials so put the rum and the decarboxylated cannabis for several hours. Next we are going to combine the cannabis and the rum into a sealable freezer safe container large enough to contain all of the ingredients and have room left to shake it. Now seal the lid and shake it vigorously for a couple of minutes.
The freezing of the cannabis hardens the trichomes and makes the thin stem of the trichome brittle so the vigorous shaking will help break off the rosin glands suspending the cannabinoids in the alcohol. The tincture will go back into the freezer for 2 or 3 days and several times during this time in the freezer you should remove the mixture and shake it vigorously for a minute or two.
After your tincture has been processed you can prepare the straining apparatus by using a rubber band to secure a coffee filter over the top of a measuring cup. Leave an indention in the top so the mixture can well into it and now pour the tincture slowly into the top of the filter. Hold back the mass of the plant material and use a spoon or spatula pressed into the jar firmly to squeeze out as much of the infused alcohol as possible.
Because we made more tincture than the recipe calls for let the tincture fill the container to the required amount then carefully remove the filter and squeeze out the remaining liquid over another jar. I do it this way as not to risk breaking the filter when squeezing and having to strain everything again and we are left with the appropriate amount in the measuring cup and you can make a drink with the leftover, or just add it to the recipe, it won’t hurt.
Now before we make the rum balls we need to prep our remaining ingredients. So first crumble the vanilla wafers into a coarse meal consistency. This can take while and can be messy but just have fun and stick with it until the entire amount is finely crumbled. I find a pastry knife works pretty good for this once you have them mostly crumbled by hand to get the smaller pieces ground down fine. A food processor would make this really quick if you have one.
And then next chop the walnuts finely as well. It’s up to you how fine you make the nuts but if you leave them very chunky your balls might fall apart easily so small to fine works best for the nuts. You can skip the nuts if you have to and you will get fewer but moister and denser rum balls with a pretty overwhelming alcohol taste.
Now that we have the tincture ready and the ingredients prepped it’s time to make our rum balls.
So into a large bowl, mix together 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the cocoa powder and the allspice and whisk it together until well combined. Then go ahead and stir in the infused rum and the corn syrup. Stir in the walnuts and crushed vanilla wafers then mix well. Again I like to use the pastry knife to combine everything into a crumbly sort of dry mixture.
Now cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to firm up for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile we can add the remaining powdered sugar into a shallow bowl, or you can use cocoa powder for this step or both.
Using a tablespoon, melon baller or scoop to portion out the chocolate mixture and press them firmly in your palm into roughly 1-inch balls. Then using your hands, roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar, coating them evenly and placing them on a pan with parchment or plastic wrap. Do this until all the balls are rolled. You can also roll them in cocoa powder or decorative sugars as I mentioned or you mix it up for a nice presentation.
We are almost finished but they need one more round to chill and let the flavors mellow and marinate so cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them at least overnight but a couple of days is even better.
These rum balls are a great party platter dish, late night snack and night cap all-in-one or even with a cup of coffee after dinner. This recipe makes about 24 – 28 balls so they also well in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
Directions
Because this recipe is a cold one with no heating required it will be necessary to fully decarboxylase the cannabis to activate the THC so we get a good head high.
So first grind it to a coarse meal then bake it in an oven for 1 hour and 50 minutes at 225 degrees F. This process will smell up your entire house so you can use a sealed container to keep down the odor if you like. Once completed your cannabis will be slightly browned and highly aromatic with a pungent ammonia smell. But don’t worry, this is a good thing. Now we can move on to the next step.
For this step you need to start with freezing cold materials so put the rum and the decarboxylated cannabis for several hours. Next we are going to combine the cannabis and the rum into a sealable freezer safe container large enough to contain all of the ingredients and have room left to shake it. Now seal the lid and shake it vigorously for a couple of minutes.
The freezing of the cannabis hardens the trichomes and makes the thin stem of the trichome brittle so the vigorous shaking will help break off the rosin glands suspending the cannabinoids in the alcohol. The tincture will go back into the freezer for 2 or 3 days and several times during this time in the freezer you should remove the mixture and shake it vigorously for a minute or two.
After your tincture has been processed you can prepare the straining apparatus by using a rubber band to secure a coffee filter over the top of a measuring cup. Leave an indention in the top so the mixture can well into it and now pour the tincture slowly into the top of the filter. Hold back the mass of the plant material and use a spoon or spatula pressed into the jar firmly to squeeze out as much of the infused alcohol as possible.
Because we made more tincture than the recipe calls for let the tincture fill the container to the required amount then carefully remove the filter and squeeze out the remaining liquid over another jar. I do it this way as not to risk breaking the filter when squeezing and having to strain everything again and we are left with the appropriate amount in the measuring cup and you can make a drink with the leftover, or just add it to the recipe, it won’t hurt.
Now before we make the rum balls we need to prep our remaining ingredients. So first crumble the vanilla wafers into a coarse meal consistency. This can take while and can be messy but just have fun and stick with it until the entire amount is finely crumbled. I find a pastry knife works pretty good for this once you have them mostly crumbled by hand to get the smaller pieces ground down fine. A food processor would make this really quick if you have one.
And then next chop the walnuts finely as well. It’s up to you how fine you make the nuts but if you leave them very chunky your balls might fall apart easily so small to fine works best for the nuts. You can skip the nuts if you have to and you will get fewer but moister and denser rum balls with a pretty overwhelming alcohol taste.
Now that we have the tincture ready and the ingredients prepped it’s time to make our rum balls.
So into a large bowl, mix together 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the cocoa powder and the allspice and whisk it together until well combined. Then go ahead and stir in the infused rum and the corn syrup. Stir in the walnuts and crushed vanilla wafers then mix well. Again I like to use the pastry knife to combine everything into a crumbly sort of dry mixture.
Now cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to firm up for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile we can add the remaining powdered sugar into a shallow bowl, or you can use cocoa powder for this step or both.
Using a tablespoon, melon baller or scoop to portion out the chocolate mixture and press them firmly in your palm into roughly 1-inch balls. Then using your hands, roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar, coating them evenly and placing them on a pan with parchment or plastic wrap. Do this until all the balls are rolled. You can also roll them in cocoa powder or decorative sugars as I mentioned or you mix it up for a nice presentation.
We are almost finished but they need one more round to chill and let the flavors mellow and marinate so cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them at least overnight but a couple of days is even better.
These rum balls are a great party platter dish, late night snack and night cap all-in-one or even with a cup of coffee after dinner. This recipe makes about 24 – 28 balls so they also well in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
What if I want to cook the alcohol down before making the rum balls so they don’t burn the palatte, will it effect the THC strength in the tincture?
Yes. It will not get stronger or weaker if you do it slowly in a hot water bath (meaning you should end up with the same total amount of THC) but it will become more potent as the alcohol evaporates and concentrates.