YOU can always tell when someone has eaten a cherry, with a juice that stains the lips, fingers and virtually everything that they come into contact with it’s hard to miss.

Have you ever tried to resist a cherry? It is nigh on impossible, unless you’re allergic to them, or you’re in the tiny, and dare we suggest slightly weird, minority who don’t like them.

For years they’ve been served as a delicious early summer treat and in fact the cherry is one of the world’s oldest farmed fruits, along with its cousin, the apricot.

Amazingly, cultivation dates back as far as 300BC.

Cherries are many things to many people – at once both sharp and sweet their fleshy insides are delicious in the sweetest of desserts, but also in more unusual savoury dishes too – making a perfect accompaniment to lamb.

In addition to these many attributes, cherries are in season right now, really coming into their own in July so it’s a good time to incorporate them into your dishes. They are well worth waiting for over the winter months.

When buying cherries, always go for the freshest you can find from farmers’ markets and fresh fruit stalls.

The trick to finding a fresh cherry is the stem – if they’re green and flexible then you’re onto a winner, but any sign of a dry, brittle stem and you know they’ve been picked a while ago. Finally, the darker the colour, the sweeter the cherry.

To store them you can keep them at room temperature for two to three days or in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to six days.

First up is a really easy recipe for Poached Cherries with Vanilla and Almond Cream.

Put 500g English cherries (pitted if you wish, but we like to keep them whole at this stage) with 300ml water, 100g caster sugar and three strips of lemon peel into a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for five minutes or until the cherries are tender and then leave to cool.

Meanwhile, put 200g of whole almonds into some warm water for 20 seconds, drain and remove the skins.

You should find that when they’re warm, the skins will come off easily.

Next, place on a baking tray and roast them in a hot oven until golden. Leave to cool before roughly chopping.

Whip 100ml of whipping cream with 1tsp of vanilla extract or half a vanilla pod, 30g (1oz) icing sugar and a dash of Amaretto liqueur (optional). Divide the cherries between four bowls add a good dollop of the whipped cream. Sprinkle with the chopped almonds and sit back and enjoy.

If you like a more substantial dessert, then this Cherry and Brandy Cake will be perfect.

Take some soft butter and grease a 20cm / 8in cake tin then flour it. Preheat your oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.

In a mixer cream 115g (4 oz) softened butter with 150g (5 oz) caster sugar until light and fluffy.

With a wooden spoon beat in four egg yolks (keeping the whites) one at a time until combined well. Fold into the mixture 200g (7oz) plain flour, 1tsp baking powder and two shots of brandy.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks and carefully fold into the cake mixture.

Pour the mixture into your cake tin, scatter with 250g (9oz) pitted cherries and bake for 35-40 minutes.

When slightly cool, sieve some icing sugar over the top and you could serve this with your almond cream as above.

* Sheila Benson and Sean Millar are at The Side Door, 29a Hope Street, Liverpool. Tel: 0151 707 7888.