No Bake Strawberry Chiffon Squares

No Bake Strawberry Chiffon Squares For the base ¾ cup melted butter 4 tbsp white sugar 3 cups graham cracker crumbs For the Strawberry Chiffon top layer 2 small packages strawberry jello 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1, 16 oz tub frozen strawberries in syrup, chopped small ¼ cup lemon juice ¾ cup boiling water 1 bag mini marshmallows (8 ounces or 250 grams) 16 ounces whipped cream, beaten to stiff peaks ( Some folks use Cool Whip instead) For the graham crumb base Mix together the butter, sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Lightly grease and line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Press the crumb mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Combine boiling water and jello, stir until dissolved. Add sweetened milk, lemon juice and strawberries, including the syrup. Fold in marshmallows and whipped cream. Spread over prepared base and chill until the jello has set. These can also be served frozen; in fact many people prefer them frozen and that's almost always how I serve them. They defrost pretty quickly, so I always store these in the freezer anyway. Notes This dessert takes very little time to prepare but is best made in advance to allow the jello to set or even the day before if serving as a frozen dessert. This is a very old recipe and I'm told that in many places the frozen tubs of strawberries in syrup are no longer available. Not to worry. Here's how to make a substitute About 1 pound fresh strawberries 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup sugar Simply clean and hull fresh strawberries and dice them small. Add them to a small saucepan with the water and sugar and bring to the boil for only a minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature or cooler.This should produce about 2 cups of strawberries in syrup as needed in the recipe.