Strawberry Fudge

First off, Merry Christmas, all.

I searched high and low for a Strawberry Fudge recipe yesterday. I asked on Twitter and Facebook and got only a few responses which wouldn't work. Finally, I found a pineapple fudge recipe which seemed to work for some people. So I substituted one cup of crushed strawberries for one cup of crushed pineapple. Yeah, I know - maybe it wouldn't set properly (the hardest part of experimenting with fudge), but I had to try because darn it, I wanted some strawberry fudge! Anyway, I put it in a pan to set, let it rest overnight, flipped it out of the pan onto parchment paper in whatever shapes and pieces broke apart, and voila! it's set.

Next time I think I'll toy with the liquid ratio to either make it creamier or set more easily. Anywho.

This is seriously strawberry-y. Delicious like the best strawberry-flavored jelly, jam, preserves, marmalade, etc that you've ever had. Just don't expect it to be as creamy as regular fudge. It's more like an English-style fudge - crumbly, sugary, mmm. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup evaporated milk
3 cups white sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup crushed strawberries, drained
2 tsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch square baking pan. Set aside.
2. In a medium-sized nonstick saucepan, stir together evaporated milk, sugar and butter. Heat slowly to boiling, stirring frequently just to
boiling or until sugar loses crystalline consistency.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in drained crushed pineapple (remember one cup, not one can), and cook over medium heat to soft ball stage of fudge (236 degrees F or 113 degrees C). Stir constantly at this stage to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan, about 25 minutes.
4. Let mixture cool until its almost room temperature (approximately 15 to 20 minutes) and then stir in the lemon juice. Beat until mixture is thick and smooth, and has lost its previous sheen.
5. Spoon mixture into the buttered pan. Let stand at room temperature or refrigerate for approximately 2 hours until fudge is firm and then cut into squares for serving.