Chocolate Covered strawberry fudge – creamy strawberry fudge with semi-sweet chocolate chip coating. What’s not to love?

Sometimes our readers challenge us to come up with a new recipe. A few months ago we posted my sister’s dark chocolate peppermint fudge to the Facebook page. For some reason she added a little red food coloring and some of our readers expressed disappointment that it wasn’t fruit flavored.

So I’ve been thinking about how to make a good fudge with a berry flavor. Then Lori over at RecipeGirl posted this wonderful recipe for Key Lime Fudge and I thought I’d modify it.

For my first attempt at chocolate covered strawberry fudge, I kept everything the same as Lori’s Key Lime Fudge except I substituted 1/4 cup condensed strawberries (boiled frozen strawberries until they were half the volume) for the lime zest and 2 tablespoons strawberry jam for the lime juice.

It was all going well until I added the marshmallows which wouldn’t dissolve. I ended up averting disaster by scooping out the marshmallows and alternating microwaving them with beating them before adding them back into the fudge. It tasted great but after the marshmallow fiasco, I wanted a recipe with no marshmallows.

The second version of chocolate covered strawberry fudge started with a BBC recipe for plain vanilla fudge. This recipe is the old fashioned kind with cream, butter and sugar as the main ingredients. It would be a great base for all sorts of flavors. I think I’m going to do Baileys and Cappucino fudge next. 😉

To get good strawberry flavor, you need concentrated strawberries. You can use strawberry preserves (preferably the fruit only variety since the fudge already has sugar) or you can make your own concentrated strawberries. I put about 1/3 cup frozen strawberries in the microwave for 8 minutes. This boiled off most of the liquid and left me with the 2 tablespoons of strawberries I needed to flavor my fudge.

The key to good fudge is beating it as it cools and then letting it cool slowly so you get small sugar crystals instead of large ones. I used mini chocolate chips for my chocolate coating but regular sized chips would work well too.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Fudge

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Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups heavy cream (whipping cream)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup (glucose syrup is even better)
• 3 ½ tablespoons butter
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup frozen strawberries
• 1 tablespoon fruit only strawberry preserves
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Line an 8" x 8" pan with aluminum foil. Butter the aluminum foil. Sprinkle half the chocolate chips on the foil and set aside.
2. Put frozen strawberries in a large bowl and microwave on high for 8 minutes to reduce it down to about 2 Tablespoons.
3. Mix cream, sugar, corn syrup, and butter together in a large, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture reaches the softball stage (235°F or 116°C) stirring constantly. This takes about 20 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Add strawberries, strawberry preserves, salt and vanilla. Beat with a spoon until the temperature drops to 140°F (60°C). This takes about 20 minutes. Beat for another 2-3 minutes. The fudge should be thick and have a glossy shine.
5. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Let cool at room temperature (do not refrigerate). Cut into squares and serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

64

Serving Size:

1" cube
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 67Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 11mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 8gProtein: 0g

Nutrition information is provided as a guide only. Please consult a dietician for specific dietary needs.