Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

Add the pretzels to a food processor and pulse until mainly small pieces remain (it should be all small pieces but before the pretzels become a dust. Most pieces should be about ¼-⅛” inch (or about .5 cm)

Pour the pretzels into a bowl and break apart any remaining large pieces with your hands. Add the butter and sugar to the pretzels and stir to combine

Press the crust into the base of a 9” springform and bake for ~10 minutes until golden and fragrant

Remove and let cool while making the filling

Butter the sides of the springform pan

Beat the room temperature cream cheese for ~30 seconds until smooth. Add in the rest of the filling ingredients and mix with a hand or stand mixer until just evenly combined ~1 minute. Don’t mix too long as the mixture will get overly fluffy.

Bake in a 500 degree F oven for 6-8 minutes (until just golden on the edges). Reduce the temperature to 200 degrees F and bake for 1 hour

Turn off the oven temperature, open the oven to remove the heat, and prop it open with a wooden spoon. Cool in the oven for 3 hours

After 3 hours, remove from the oven and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Add the topping at least two hours before serving and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a small saucepan on medium heat, cook together the sugar, vanilla bean paste, ¼ cup water, and 200 g small diced strawberries. Cook for about 10 minutes until bubbly, thick and strawberries are mostly broken down

Right before the 10 minutes are up, in a measuring cup, create a cornstarch slurry by mixing together ½ cup of water and ¼ cup of cornstarch. Whisk the water and cornstarch together until no clumps of cornstarch remain. Add in the cornstarch slurry and cook for 2-3 more minutes until slightly thickened and glossy

Remove from heat and add the strawberries and lemon juice and zest

Let it cool for about 15 minutes before pouring over the cooled cheesecake. Set in the fridge for 2 hours until set. Slice and serve