Cherry Cheese-Cake Pie

Half cherry pie, half cheesecake, all in a standard 9-inch shell. Tart red cherries thickened with cornstarch bake first, then a sweetened cream cheese layer gets spooned over the hot filling and bakes again at a lower temperature until set.

The two-stage bake is what makes this work. The cherry filling gets a head start at high heat to set the crust and thicken the fruit. Then the cream cheese topping goes on hot, which helps it bond to the filling underneath instead of sliding off or cracking.

Almond extract in the cherry layer is a small but critical addition. Just an eighth of a teaspoon bridges the tartness of the cherries and the richness of the cream cheese. It’s the flavor that makes people ask “what’s in this?" without being able to name it.

Lemon juice sharpens the cherry filling and keeps the fruit flavor bright underneath all that cream cheese. Without it, the cherries taste flat and one-dimensional.

Pro Tips

• Use tart (sour) cherries, not sweet Bing cherries. Sweet cherries turn cloying under the sugared cream cheese layer.
• Beat the cream cheese topping until completely smooth before spooning it on. Lumps won’t melt out during baking and show up as white streaks in the finished pie.
• Cool completely to room temperature before slicing. The cream cheese layer needs time to firm up, or it will ooze when cut.

Variations

• Swap canned cherries for fresh or frozen blueberries for a blueberry cheesecake pie. Adjust sugar to taste since blueberries are sweeter.
• Add a graham cracker crust instead of a traditional pie shell for a more classic cheesecake vibe.