Ingredients

Crust:
1 19-ounce box fudge brownie mix
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients with a spoon until all particles are moistened, about 40-50 strokes. Pour into a greased tart pan or pans. Batter should be no more than 1/2-inch deep in the pan. (This recipe is enough for a 10-inch spring-form pan plus two 5-inch heart-shaped tart pans. If you have excess batter, pour into a small pan and bake as brownies.) Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until brownie edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Don't overbake. Allow to cool 15 minutes while preparing the filling.

Filling:
1 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light sour cream
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling (preferably with a high ratio of fruit)

Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Make sure the cream cheese is very soft. If it's not, warm it up in the microwave a few seconds (otherwise it forms little lumps). Blend together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream, eggs, cocoa powder and vanilla. Pour on top of brownie crust. Filling should be about 1/2-inch deep, but leave at least 1/2 inch to top of the pan. Place pan on upper-middle rack of oven. Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in it an additional half hour, with the oven door closed. Then refrigerate for at least two hours. Top with cherry pie filling before serving.

Directions

Triple Chocolate Cream Cheese Tart: Instead of spreading the top with pie filling, garnish with dark chocolate shavings, chunks or syrup.