DIY: CBD Churro Christmas Tree

Shake up tradition by adding some CBD into your Christmas treats.

Ingredients

For the Puff Pastry:

• 250g strong plain flour
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 250g butter, at room temperature
• 150ml cold water
• (Alternatively, you could use two packs of ready rolled puff pastry)
• 100g chocolate spread
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• 1 ½ tsp caster sugar
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tbsp Cannapol Raw High-CBD Hemp Paste

For the chocolate dipping sauce:

• 100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 50ml double cream
• 10g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp golden syrup or clear honey

Method

For the pastry:

1. In a large bowl, sift 250g of strong plain flour and 1 tsp of fine sea salt. Cut 250g of butter into small chunks, place them into the bowl, rubbing them in loosely. You must see bits of butter in the mixture.
2. Make a well in the mixture and pour in about 100ml of the cold water. Mix until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed.
3. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
4. Lightly flour a board, turn the dough out and lightly knead and form a smooth rectangle.
5. Roll the dough in one direction only, until it is three-times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Make sure the edges remain straight and even. There should be a marbled effect, so do not overwork the butter streaks.
6. Fold the top third down to the centre, and then the bottom third up and over that. Turn the dough a quarter turn, either to the left or right and roll out again making it three times the length.
7. Fold as before, cover the dough with cling film and chill for at least 20 minutes before rolling to use. (For this recipe, you will need to do this twice.)

For the tree:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas mark 6
2. Roll the dough out so that it fits a baking tray. Line a baking tray with baking parchment, and place half of the rolled dough. Place the rest of the dough on top.

(If buying pre-rolled, unroll the pastry and put one sheet, still with the paper, on a baking tray. Remove the paper from the second sheet (saving it for later) and gently lay it on top.)

3. Take a sharp knife and trim the pastry to form a Christmas tree, with a trunk at the bottom. For ease, you can make a paper tree template to draw around.
4. Remove the top tree, and place on the reserved paper (if you are making the pastry from scratch, cut a piece of baking parchment and place on top).
5. Mix the CBD paste into the chocolate spread and spread across the first tree. Leave a gap of 1cm at the edges, and then place the other tree on top.
6. For the branches, cut strips around 2.5cm thick in the sides of the pastry. Leave a space within the centre of the tree and twist each branch.
7. Cut a star shape out of the remaining pastry and place it at the top of the tree.
8. Brush with the egg. Combine the sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle it over.
9. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry has puffed up and has turned golden.
10. While the tree is cooking, make the dipping sauce: bring a pan of water to the boil and then let it simmer. Place all ingredients into a heatproof bowl and place it over the pan, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir the ingredients occasionally, until melted
11. Serve the sauce warm alongside the Christmas tree.