Chef Teixeira finds new opportunities with infused pastries
Chris Teixiera spent most of his childhood hanging out at the bakery where his mother worked almost her entire life, so his career path as a pastry chef was not a huge surprise. Still, career paths can hold many unexpected opportunities along the way. For Teixiera, one of those unexpected opportunities included creating and launching infused-cannabis pastries.
Teixeira, the son of Portuguese immigrants, has worked for the Fifty/50 Hospitality Group for 11 years (mostly as the Executive Pastry Chef), and currently is the Food & Beverage Director/Partner, so when the Fifty/50 Group and West Town Bakery partnered with Cannabis Infused to launch “take-and-bake cake mixes” infused with THC, the James Beard Award semifinalist jumped in head first.
“When Fifty/50 Restaurant Group decided to get into the cannabis industry,” Teixeira said, “it made logical sense for me, with the knowledge I have, to (create the infused-cake mixes).” November 2023, Teixeira helped launch three infused-cake mixes: Fudge Brownie, Cannfetti Cake, and The Devil’s Food Cake.
Teixeira and the Group wanted to create a product “similar to an item you can buy at the grocery store.”
“The purpose is the same for creating a recipe whether it’s infused or not,” Teixeira said. “First, we wanted a recipe to be quick and easy, and on the flip side, the ingredients we used we wanted to be the same quality we use at the bakery that we already own.”
“We are not using cheap chocolate or cheap sugar,” Teixeira said. “We’re using 64% dark chocolate. We’re using 41% no chocolate. We wanted to make sure that if you want to make it at home, it would be better than other products you could get. So that was step one, that we were offering a great quality product.”
Other considerations for the mixes included brownies or cakes that could be made at home in 15 minutes and be lower dosed and fast acting, so consumers can indulge in more than one brownie or cake at one setting without causing heavy couchlock effects.
“Most people like to do that at home,” Teixeira said, “so we thought if we could partner that with cakes or brownies with quality ingredients infused with cannabis, seemed like the perfect scenario.”
One aspect of the process that strayed from the normal R&D was that Teixeira wanted to know how well the mixes worked in a regular kitchen oven, instead of the commercial oven that he normally used to tests new products.
“Another focal point was that, if I were eating it, I wanted to know there were no dietary restrictions,” Teixeira said. “So if people were bringing these to a party, I wanted them to be able to know (the ingredients).”
Each box delivers a total of 50mg THC spread across 12 servings. This equates to a carefully measured 4.1mg of THC per slice, catering to consumers who appreciate a controlled and balanced euphoria. Every box of mix comes complete with a baking tray in every package, online instruction videos and tips, and very simple-to-follow instructions for personal use or parties.
“I think this is the beginning of this kind of stuff,” he said. “The options really are unlimited as we grow and as cannabis becomes more socially acceptable.”
The three cake mixes can be found at West Town Bakery’s sister stores, OKAY Cannabis Wheeling and OKAY Cannabis West Town. Along with the Cannabis Infused website, OKAY Cannabis Dispensary can be found on Instagram @okay.dispensary, X @okaydispensary, Facebook, and LinkedIn. West Town Bakery can be found on Instagram @westtownbakery, Facebook, and TikTok. The Fifty/50 Hospitality Group can be found LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @thefifty50group.
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