Stand-in striker Michal Pospisil gave manager Graham Rix a headache of the best kind with a glorious double that fired Hearts to victory.
Pospisil was only playing due to his side's injury problems, but took his chance in style with his second half goals.
And Rix was moved to say that even when the signing of Neil McCann goes ahead on Monday, he will struggle to find a place in this Hearts team.
Dunfermline were rarely seen as an attacking force, although Andy Tod sent an early header over the bar and Mark Burchill had a chip headed off the line by Steven Pressley.
But when Hearts skipper Pressley bundled Calum Elliot's mis-hit shot over the line just before the half hour, there only looked one winner. Pospisil added the second with a super finish from Robbie Neilson's cut-back and it looked as though Hearts were home and dry.
But Burchill had other ideas as he latched on to Ian Campbell's long free-kick to fire home a lifeline for Dunfermline.
However, Pospisil put the game beyond The Pars when he headed Paul Hartley's free- kick over the badly-positioned Allan McGregor.
The best goal was saved to last when Julien Brellier slipped a glorious ball to Rudi Skacel, allowing Hearts' top scorer to coolly fire the ball past Allan McGregor to round off a win that keeps Hearts in touch with Celtic at the top of the table.