Chocolate covered cherry pie

Ingredients

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 1 (6-ounce) ready-made chocolate crumb pie crust
• 1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 16 maraschino cherries with stems
• 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed

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Preparation

• Microwave morsels and cream in a glass bowl bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 1 to 2 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt.
• Whisk in butter until smooth. Let cool, whisking occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes or until mixture reaches spreading consistency.
• Spoon half of chocolate mixture into pie crust. Cover and chill remaining chocolate mixture.
• Spoon cherry pie filling evenly over chocolate mixture in pie crust. Place pie crust on a baking sheet and set aside.Beat cream cheese and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over cherry pie filling. (Pie shell will be very full but will not overflow when baking.)
• Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours.
• Drain stemmed cherries on paper towels; pat dry. Microwave reserved chocolate mixture at MEDIUM (50% power) 1 minute. Remove from microwave; stir until spreading consistency, reheating if necessary.
• Dip stemmed cherries in chocolate mixture, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper; chill 15 minutes. Spread remaining chocolate mixture evenly over top of pie. Spoon 8 dollops of whipped topping around outer edge of pie; place 2 chocolate covered cherries in center of each dollop.