Pretzel Jell-O

I've had Pretzel Salad before, but I have to admit this is the best Pretzel Salad I've ever had. I changed up the recipe, and it paid off. Everyone loved the intense fruit flavor in the Jell-O layer, and the kids liked that there were no big chunks of fruit. I think Dad might have even liked this salad (maybe if it had a graham crust, though!). Here's what I did:

Pretzel Jell-O Salad
Crust:
2 cups crushed pretzels (I did this in the food processor)
3 T. sugar
1/2 cup melted butter (original recipe calls for 3/4 - 1 cup butter, which I felt was unnecessary)
Cream Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 pints whipping cream (original recipe called for 12 oz. Cool Whip, which I would have used if I had any in the freezer!)
1 tsp. vanilla
Jell-O Layer:
6 oz. package raspberry Jell-O (original recipe called for Strawberry)
16 oz. frozen blackberries (original recipe called for frozen strawberries, but I had blackberries in the freezer. . . thanks, Marcia!)
6 oz. can pineapple juice (original recipe called for 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, which I didn't have, but I did have the pineapple juice, which helped add liquid to the pureed fruit in the blender so it didn't "freeze" up)

For crust, mix crushed pretzels with sugar and melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. Let cool for 1 hour. (I cooled in the fridge for 30 minutes).

For cream filling, beat together cream cheese and sugar. In another bowl, beat whipping cream with vanilla until stiff. Fold cream cheese and whipping cream together, and layer carefully over cooled crust.

For Jell-O layer, dissolve Jell-O in 2 cups boiling water. Puree blackberries with pineapple juice in blender. Whisk pureed mixture into Jell-O, and refrigerate until it begins to gel. Pour slightly gelled mixture carefully over cream filling.

Refrigerate for several hours until completely set up.