It’s always nice to bake a luscious dessert for Valentine’s Day, whether it’s for a romantic dinner for two or for a bigger gathering for family and friends. Valentine's Day Cherry Cheese Tart is not only beautiful, but also tastes good. This tart has a buttery shortbread crust, topped with cheesecake filling swirled with cherry pie filling. It is really quite easy, and definitely worth any time spent.

This tart can be made a few days ahead and kept refrigerated. Instead of the chocolate hearts, you could drizzle chocolate over the top.

16 Servings

Crust:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg

1 20 oz. can cherry pie filling

8 Oblong Chocolate Cream Snack Cakes, such as Hostess or Little Debbie
Sweetened whipped cream
Red Jelly hearts

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Spray a 12" shallow tart pan with non-stick spray, then line with a sheet of parchment.
3. Crust: Mix the butter, sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt until well-blended; press evenly in the prepared tart pan.
Bake 30 minutes, or until lightly browned; remove from the oven.
4. Filling: Whip the cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, and egg until smooth; spread over the baked crust.
5. Drop large spoonfuls of the cherry pie filling over the cream cheese mixture, and swirl with the back of a spoon.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the center is set; remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly.
7. Chocolate Hearts: Cut each of the snack cakes on the diagonal starting about 1" down from the tops on the inside edges.
8. Remove the parts cut off and press the cakes together, forming a heart.
9. Place the hearts on the tart. Cover with whipped cream (to hide the seam) and top each with a jelly heart.
10. Pipe whipped cream decoratively over the tart and top with jelly hearts.
11. Refrigerate until serving.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 386 Calories from Fat 174
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 45% Protein 4% Carb. 51%

Nutrient Amount per
Total Fat 19 g
Saturated Fat 11 g
Cholesterol 67 mg
Sodium 341 mg
Total Carbohydrate 49 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 19 g
Protein 4 g

Vitamin A 14% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 3%