Strawberry Marshmallow Fudge Recipe

Recipe developer Jessica Morone says of her latest candy creation, "Strawberry is a bright, fun flavor that you don't see often for fudge," but you must admit that it sure looks pretty in pink. Well worth the easy, no-bake preparation it requires, Morone's strawberry marshmallow fudge is ideal for gifting and also equips aspiring home confectioners with a few key tips for successful fudge-making.

For starters, Morone says that when warming up the evaporated milk mixture for this recipe, you'll want to make sure it reaches at least 235 F, and anywhere in the 235-240 range is best. "Otherwise," she explains, "there will still be too much water in the mixture, and it will be too soft once it has set." She also says that if your fudge seizes up to the point that you can't stir in the white chocolate, marshmallow creme, and strawberries, you can just put it back on the stove with the burner set as low as it'll go. Gently heat and stir the fudge until all of the ingredients combine, then switch off the flame, pour it into the pan, and look forward to your berry-flecked dessert.

The fudge itself is made with a marshmallow creme base combined with white chocolate chips, sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. To flavor the fudge, Morone uses vanilla extract and freeze-dried strawberries.

Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil, then grease with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Add freeze-dried strawberries to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Set aside.

Add sugar, evaporated milk, and cubed butter to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir until combined.

Warm over medium-low heat, stirring often, and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, continue heating until the mixture registers 235 F on a candy thermometer (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat.

Stir in the ground strawberries, white chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, and vanilla extract until smooth and melted.

Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and let sit at room temperature for about 4 hours (or chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours) until fully set.

Remove fudge from the baking dish and cut into small squares.

Serve at room temperature.

If you're not used to working with freeze-dried strawberries, you may be wondering where to find them. Morone says they can be found along with a wide variety of other freeze-dried fruits — such as bananas, blueberries, mangoes, and raspberries — in most supermarkets. 

If you're feeling experimental, Morone notes that you could use any of these fruits in place of strawberries, whether you're making this recipe or another. "Freeze-dried fruits are great for fudge because you are getting the fruit flavor, but you aren't adding additional moisture to the mixture," she explains. For that reason, you don't want to replace the dried strawberries with fresh or frozen ones when making this recipe. If you have berries left over, know that freeze-dried fruit is a great pantry staple since it tends to be more nutritious and last longer than the dehydrated kind.

Not only does this strawberry marshmallow fudge recipe make a great template for other freeze-dried fruit confections, but Morone tells us that you can change up the other ingredients as well. Her use of white chocolate, she says, makes this fudge "very strawberry-forward," but you could swap it for milk or semisweet chocolate chips instead for a more chocolaty taste. After all, she tells us, "Chocolate and strawberry is a very classic flavor combination for a reason." To get the best of both worlds, you could also do a double-decker version with milk chocolate-strawberry fudge on the bottom and white chocolate-strawberry fudge on the top.

Besides the flavor, another benefit of enhancing white chocolate fudge with freeze-dried fruits like strawberries and raspberries is the natural pink color they give the treat. If you want more of a vibrant pink color, though, Morone says you could enhance it further with food coloring. Another suggestion Morone offers is to stir in some nuts for added texture — think almonds, peanuts, pecans, or walnuts.