How do you make cream cheese pie, as opposed to cheesecake?

That is the exact recipe I've used for years with excellent results. The only thing I can think of that you possibly did wrong is maybe use a can of condensed milk instead of sweetened condensed milk...??? They are not the same consistency. Also, you didn't add the cherries to it, did you? It will thicken as it gets colder in the fridge and the cream chesse hardens back up. If you softened the cream cheese in the microwave, that might mess up the consistency, too. Sorry, that's all I can come up with.

I make this pie regularly. I made my 1st one when I was 10-12 yo - some 5+ decades ago. Key points in making this pie: The lemon juice curdles the milk. This is why the pie "sets up". Therefore you absolutely cannot add the lemon juice until all other ingredients are mixed . If you do, you'll get soup. Use a hand whisk or spoon to mix the lemon juice into the other ingredients. Stop mixing just as soon as the lemon juice is distributed into the mixture and immediately pour the mixture into the pie shell. If you mix with an electric mixer or mix too much, you'll get soup. If you let the mixture sit very long in the bowl after the lemon juice is added, you'll disturb the "set" when you pour it into the pie shell and you'll have pudding. The amount of lemon juice in your recipe is the amount called for in the original recipe for this pie. The original recipe did not use the cream cheese. With the addition of the cream cheese you need at least 3/4 cup lemon juice. I use 1 1/4 cups. Unless you can get tree ripened lemons, use bottled lemon juice. Tree ripened lemon juice and bottled lemon juice has a pH of 4.4 - 4.6. Juice from unripe lemons (what is usually found at your local green-grocer or supermarket) may have a pH as high as 5.8 - 6.0. A pH this high will not curdle the milk enough for a firm set.

I like my pie topped with blueberry pie filling better than with cherry pie filling.

Add a small pkg of instant Jello pudding, vanilla or cheesecake flavor. Whisk it in and wait 3-5 min to let it thicken. If it gets to thick, add a little milk - very little bit by bit till it's the consistency you want.

I make a similar thing with

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, room temp

1 large pkg instant Jello pudding - vanilla

2 cps milk

12 oz Cool Whip

Use a fork or potato masher to mash the cream cheese and blend it with the milk. Stir in the pudding mix till well blended. Add the cool whip and stir.

Put in a cake pan with a graham cracker crust. Refrigerate.

Cut up 1 container of strawberries and stir it into a can of raspberry pie filling. This makes an awesome topping!!

Delicious

The recipes I've found in my old cookbooks for cream cheese pie all require baking - they all have eggs to help get the pie to set - and then they go in the frig.

Is it possible that you grabbed a can of evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed? I've done it before because they usually sit on the same shelf at the market and the labels look the same.

Sorry I can't be of more help!

Good luck - cream cheese pie sounds really good right now!

Try this

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 stick melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

mix together and press in shell

1 large tub whip cream

1 bar cream cheese Softened

1 cup powder sugar

mix together with electric mixture until fluffy spread in crust, top with your favorite pie filling. Chill for an hour or so. This is so easy and is yummy

Sugar Free Cheesecake This is a basic cheesecake recipe. It is fairly dense (and becomes more so when completely cold). We like it with a strawberry topping, especially when strawberries are in season. I haven't tried very much variation as far as fat levels in the cream cheese, you can substitute, at least to an extent. When I tried just substituting low fat for one of the bricks, the batter seemed slightly looser, you will detected a slight difference in the final product. INGREDIENTS: 3 packages (1 and 1/2 lbs) cream cheese (room temperature) 4 eggs (preferably room temperature) 1 and 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 Tablespoon) vanilla 1 and 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 Tablespoon) lemon juice 1 and 1/3 cups worth of artificial sweetener (I like liquid concentrates for this recipe) 1/4 cup sour cream Crust: 1 cup almond meal 2 T melted butter 2T worth artificial sweetener PREPARATION: Heat oven to 375 F. Tip: If you have bricks or a pizza stone or unglazed ceramic tile*, put them on the lower rack of the oven. This will hold the heat in the oven. This is good for cheesecakes not baked in a water bath. (Well, actually, it's helpful for any kind of baking, as it keeps the heat in the oven more constant. I keep a pizza stone in the oven most of the time.) Combine ingredients for crust, and press into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until fragrant and beginning to brown. Raise oven heat to 400 F, or lower to 350 F if you're using a water bath (see below). Put cream cheese in mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy. Add other ingredients, scraping the bowl and beaters each time (this is very important), fully incorporating each ingredient. When all ingredients are combined, scrape one more time, beat one more minute, and pour mixture into pan over crust. Instructions for water bath: Wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil, put it in a baking pan and pour boiling water around the sides. Bake at 350 F for 60 to 90 minutes, checking often. When the cake is firm to touch but slightly soft in the center, or the center reaches 155 F, remove from oven. Instructions for non-water bath: For this method, you start the cake at a high temperature, and it slowly drops. If you have stoneware, bricks, etc, this allows it to happen at a slower rate, and I get better results in less time. Put the cheesecake on a sheet pan in case of drippage. After putting the cheesecake in the oven at 400 F, turn the oven down to 200 F. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, checking often after an hour. When the cake is firm to touch but slightly soft in the center, or the center reaches 155 F, remove from oven. Chill completely. Top with fruit, if desired, such as Sugar-Free Strawberry Topping. Makes 16 servings. hope this helps. enjoy.

Even though you have chosen to call this a "pie" instead of a cheesecake it looks very similar to several "no-bake" cheese cakes I have seen.

Here is a link with several no-bake cheesecakes. Take a look at them and maybe it will give you an idea of how to make this work for you...

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm...

Bert