Strawberry/Blueberry Cheesecake with.........Pretzel crust?

In one of my many and random recipe searches on Allrecipes.com I cam across this little gem which was too intriguing to pass by.  On the site it was originally listed as Judy's Strawberry Pretzel Salad........why Judy decided to call it Pretzel salad I have no idea......this is definitely a soft style cheesecake!

Isn't it pretty!

What drew me to this recipe was both the top and the bottom......the cheese filling was pretty standard.  As you can see from the photo I mixed Fresh strawberries and blueberries together with 1 package of strawberry gelatin, poured it over the cheese cake and let it set.  I was very sceptical!  I thought for sure it was going to bleed down into the Cheese mixture and I would be faced with a disgusting mushy mess!  I was pleasantly surprised.  I had made the Cheese cake in a spring form pan, and upon releasing it from the pan it looked just as you see above. 

 As far as the pretzel crust goes.....I wasn't sure, pretzels have a lot of salt.  When I went to the store to get the pretzels I searched high and low for the low salt version but came up with nothing so I decided to try it with the regulars, and again I was pleasantly surprised!  I stared at T while he took the first bite (T's always my willing taste tester) He nods and digs in for more.  So I try a bit, and yeah, it's pretty good....this originally random recipe is a keeper.

Here's what you need:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
• 4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries *I used fresh strawberries and blueberries just make sure the gelatin is completely cool before you pour it over the cheese cake or it will likely melt......leaving you with the mushy mess I was so afraid of!

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the pretzels (crushed) , 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan(I used a round spring form pan because I wanted to be able to de-pan it and see the layers). Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool completely.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen strawberries, and stir until thawed. Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour.

I was so nervous at this point!  I didn't have any idea what to expect when I released the pan,  but all of that worry was for nothing it came out clean and oh so pretty!

Thanks for reading!

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