I remember the first time my sister showed me Aran Goyoaga's beautiful blog "Cannelle et Vanille". She told me I had to look at this great site she had just found and sent me the link to the cookies she wanted to try right away. She made the cookies and blogged about them, and I was hooked to the blog. I have tried several of Aran's recipes, all of them turning our beautifully. She inspired me to actually try and make macarons, which really are not hard to make at all, and to take up food photography. So when I saw Aran's recipe for "Cherry, Almond and Chocolate Mini Cakes" I knew I'd have to make them. But the cherry season was over and I had to wait another year to make them. Yesterday I made them. Need I say they were eaten in complete silence, everyone enjoying every single bite? My sister asked if I had any more, and I said I didn't. "Good," she replied, "Or else I'd have to go eat another one RIGHT NOW!"

Cherry, Almond and Chocolate Cake by Aran Goyoaga

Note: I used larger ramekins than Aran and baked them for about 40 minutes. The batter filled 4 ramekins perfectly. I also made the batter the day before and refrigerated the batter overnight.

175 grams almond paste

3 eggs
50 grams butter
90 grams bittersweet chocolate
30 grams flour
2 grams baking powder
cherries, pitted and cut into medium dice

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the almond paste with one egg with the paddle attachment. When this becomes a smooth mixture, add the rest of the eggs and switch to the whip attachment. Whip this for about 5 minutes until light and fluffly.

In the meantime, melt the butter and the chocolate over a double boiler. When the eggs have become thick and make a ribbon, turn the machine to low and add the melted chocolate and butter. Mix until combined. Add the flour and baking powder and mix. Fold in the pieces of cherry.

Refrigerate the batter for a couple of hours. Pipe into molds (half way up) and bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. When the cake has almost set completely, place a whole cherry with its stem on top, let the cake finish baking for another 3 minutes or so.