Cherry with Cream Cheese pie

It's summer time, and whenever I walk into a supermarket, I see mouthwatering fruits that are in season. As much as I'd like to buy these fruits, I refuse to, knowing I have a bag of frozen sitting in the freezer. We found a large bag of bing cherries in our freezer the other day and my mom threatened to throw it all away if I wasn't going to use it. So I sat there with a tub of hot water, defrosting the cherries and pitting them 0_O my hands had a mixture of freezing fingertips and hot palms. Anyway, we decided to make it into a dessert. This could be a vegan if you omit the cream cheese or use a vegan alternative.

Cherry with Cream Cheese pie
1 hour, Serves 12
1 pound cherries, pitted (3 cups)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
5 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 roll peppridge farm phyllo dough
non stick spray or 2 tablespoon melted butter
6 tablespoons creamcheese, softened at room temperature



1. Place pitted cherries and water into a pot on medium high. Drain juices from the pot once the juices start to collect at the bottom. Add sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and cornstarch to the pot. Bring the pot down to low-medium and continue to heat until the mixture thickens.
2. Prepare the phyllo dough by carefully unrolling it. Remove 5 layers and set aside. Place a slightly damp paper towel over the rest. With the seperated dough, spray non stick spray or spread melted butter between each layer, ending with another layer of spray on top. Cut the dough into 6 parts. Place cut dough into muffin tins and shape into a cup. Repeat these steps with another 5 sheets. Bake the dough according to manufactures instructions.
3. Once dough cups are baked and cooled, spoon cream cheese to the bottom of the cups and top with cherry filling.