First, let's prepare the base. Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Lightly grease a 23x33 cm (9x13 inch) baking dish.

Crush the pretzels. What works best for me is to place them in a large, sealed food bag and gently bash them with a rolling pin. You're looking for a mix of coarse crumbs and small pieces, not a fine powder.

In a medium bowl, mix the crushed pretzels, melted butter, and light brown soft sugar until everything is well combined and resembles wet sand.

Firmly press the pretzel mixture into the bottom of your prepared baking dish, creating an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes until it's lightly toasted and fragrant. Set it aside to cool completely – this can take around 30 minutes on a wire rack.

While the base cools, make the filling. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the room-temperature cream cheese and caster sugar together on medium speed until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, with no lumps. Stir in the vanilla extract.

In a separate, clean bowl, whip the double cream until it forms stiff peaks. Be careful not to over-whip it.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture using a spatula until it's just combined. You want to keep the airiness from the cream.

Once the pretzel base is 100% cool to the touch, spread the cream cheese filling evenly over it. Pay close attention to spreading it right to the edges of the dish, creating a complete seal. This is the crucial step to prevent the jelly from leaking.

Place the dish in the fridge to chill for at least 30-60 minutes while you prepare the topping. This helps the filling to firm up.

For the topping, dissolve the jelly powder in 500ml of boiling water, stirring until no crystals remain. I used to struggle with this dish until I discovered this technique: let the jelly mixture cool on the counter until it reaches room temperature, which can take about an hour. Do not let it start to set.

Arrange the sliced strawberries over the chilled cream cheese layer. Gently and slowly pour the cooled jelly liquid over the strawberries.

Carefully transfer the dish to the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight, until the jelly is completely firm.