Strawberry Fudge

This easy strawberry fudge recipe brings together sweet buttercream, strawberry extract, and colored candy melts to create a beautiful red and pink strawberry fudge. It's perfect for Valentine's day but I enjoy it any time of year!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate, fudge, strawberry, valentine

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 7

Chill 2

Total Time 2 22

Servings

Calories 172kcal

Equipment

8x8 square pan
Parchment Paper

Ingredients

16 ounces buttercream frosting premade from the store is easiest
¾ cup red candy melts
¾ cup strawberry flavored pink candy melts
1 teaspoon strawberry extract

valentine’s mix non-pareils sprinkles - optional

pink and red heart sprinkles - optional

Instructions

Line a pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave some overhang. Set aside.
Place the red candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on 50% power, in the microwave, for 2-3 minutes or until smooth when stirred. Stop every 15-30 seconds to stir during the melting process to ensure the candy melts don’t overcook.
Follow step one for the pink candy melts, keeping the two colors separated in different bowls.
Remove the lid and foil film from the frosting container.
Set aside ½ a teaspoon of the frosting before heating, if you will be using the heart or any other type of sprinkles.
Heat the remaining frosting in the can in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute, or until fully melted and smooth.
Add the extract to the frosting and stir well.
Pour half of the frosting into the bowl with the melted red candy melts and the other half into the bowl with the melted pink candy melts.
Stir each color vigorously until fully mixed.
Alternate pouring the two colors in random spots into the prepared pan, pausing to tap the pan in between so it evens out and removes bubbles.
Once all of the chocolate mixtures have been poured into the pan and evened out, sprinkle the top of the fudge with as many Valentine-themed non-pareils as you like.
Place the fudge in the fridge to chill for 2 hours or until it has solidified.
If desired, use the frosting that had been set aside and place a dab on the back of a heart sprinkle, and press it into the middle of each fudge square you cut later additional decoration.

Notes

If the fudge turns out hard or seems to fall apart when you’re cutting it, this means too much chocolate was used. You’ll need to reduce the chocolate the next time around. It will still taste just as good, it just won’t be as soft or pretty.
If the fudge won’t set up well, it means not enough chocolate was used. You either need to increase the chocolate used or decrease the amount of frosting the next time around.
The chocolate will slightly seize when the frosting is added to it. This is normal, no need to worry. You just need the mixture to be pourable. Just keep stirring and you’ll be good to go.
Do not add the extract directly to the chocolate or it will ruin it. The extract seizes the chocolate to a point that it’s not usable.

Nutrition