| 1 | Soak undrained cherries and kirsch in small bowl 6 hours. |
| 2 | Thoroughly drain cherries in strainer set over medium bowl, shaking occasionally, at least two hours. |
| 3 | Reserve liquid. |
| 4 | Add enough morello cherry syrup to cherry liquid to measure 1 cup. |
| 5 | Pour 6 tablespoons into heavy 8-inch skillet (reserve remaining liquid for filling). |
| 6 | Halve cherries and add to skillet. |
| 7 | Boil until syrup is thickened and mixture resembles preserves, about 6 minutes. |
| 8 | (can be prepared 2 days ahead. |
| 9 | Chill). |
| 10 | Generously butter 9-inch springform pan. |
| 11 | Finely crush cookies in processor, using on/off turns. |
| 12 | Cut in butter until mixture begins to gather together, using on/off turns. |
| 13 | Press crumbs into bottom of pan and up sides to ?inch from top; there should be no cracks. |
| 14 | Refrigerate crust for at least 30 minutes. |
| 15 | Preheat oven to 325 °F. |
| 16 | Heat 1 ?cups cream with chocolate in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. |
| 17 | Cool 10 minutes. |
| 18 | Beat cream cheese with ?cup sugar until smooth. |
| 19 | Beat in eggs 1 at a time until just combined. |
| 20 | Beat in chocolate mixture, then remaining 10 tablespoons cherry liquid and vanilla. |
| 21 | Pour into crust. |
| 22 | Bake until outer 2 inches of cake are firm but center still moves slightly, about 1 ?hours (top may crack). |
| 23 | Cool completely on rack. |
| 24 | Top pan with paper towels and cover tightly with foil. |
| 25 | Refrigerate 1 to 2 days. |
| 26 | Remove foil, paper towels and pan sides from cake. |
| 27 | Spread cherry topping over cake. |
| 28 | Beat remaining 1 cup cream with 2 tablespoons sugar and kirsch to peaks. |
| 29 | Spoon into center of cake. |
| 30 | Top with chocolate curls if desired. |
| 31 | (can be prepared 2 hours ahead and refrigerated). |
| 32 | Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. |
| 33 | Edited to mm format by: lois flack, cyberealm bbs, watertown, ny - home of kook-net (315)782-1120 - |
