Cherry Cheese Pie

"I've been making this exact recipe for 20 years! Now, I triple it, minus 1/3 cup lemon juice (2/3 c.instead of a full cup) and I use two cans of sweetened condensed milk instead of three, to make a 9"..." See more x 13" pie. Also, to reduce the fat,I use the 1/3 less fat cream cheese(Neufchatel), and use fat-free sweetened condensed milk. My brother-in-law thought I was lying about it being low fat! My husband has a large family, so we always make one for the holidays. It's also a hit at church potlucks. The only downside is that I have to make my own graham cracker crust. I usually assign that job to my husband:)"

"HINT***Knox (unflavored) Gelatin...for those who have problem with pie setting. Mix 1 1/2 to 2 t of it into your fresh squeezed, 1/3 cup of lemon juice & let it stand for 1 minute before incorporating..." See more into cream cheese/milk mixture. If you use fresh--crush your pulp or strain it. I've experimented with flour & cornstarch & while both did thicken, it gave pasty-chalky texture to filling. Thus the reason I tried gelatin. It lends no flavor, keeps the creamy texture & you DON'T have to decrease lemon juice which is key for the pies delicious taste. I sometimes add 1 T of fresh grated lemon peel to my filling. You could always add (instead of gelatin) an additional 1/4 cup of cream cheese but I think it cuts the intensity of the lemon juice. The original Kraft/Phildelphia recipe calls for putting the Cherry Pie Filling on top of whole pie but I believe this aids in the filling not setting well enough for clean slicing. I think it's just too heavy & wet a topping for a cream-type pie. It also makes pie look terrible after a few days (leaking). Anyway, I've always diplored that part of the pie. I HATE, Yuck, HATE that gooey, gelatinous glop of 'over processed' mess. Did I forget to say I hate that stuff?. I prefer thawed sweetened strawberries, frozen cherries or fresh strawberries macerated in sugar & a large dash or two of Grand Marnier. Whatever topping you choose, try spooning over individual slices instead...gelatin or not. But gelatin will give solid slicing. Promise."

"This turned out terrible like soup I left it in the fridge over night it never firmed up I didn't have lemon juice so I made it with out thinking it would only affect the flavor not the consistency bu..." See moret may be that was the problem. Also the batter was room temp when I poured it into the crust "