We all know by now that I am a big fan of desserts. This does not mean however, that I am huge fan of making desserts. Every once in awhile I forget that I don’t loooove to bake, and I jump head first in to some lengthy project involving vanilla beans, too many egg whites beaten to stiff peaks, and a very hot oven. I get impatient. I get frustrated. I go running from the kitchen in a poof of flour, swearing that I will never bake again. That is until the following week, when the entire process starts again.

I adore summer, for many reason, including those culinary. Stone fruit. Luscious, fleeting, and dessert worthy, is my reason for seasonal adoration. For some it may be a bit early for summer fruit, but here in California, land of citrus fruit in the winter, and apricots in the summer, this fruit is starting to pop up all over at local markets. And with plums, apricots, and peaches, come those beautiful, little orbs, bursting with flavor, and with enough rosy pigment to dye both tongues and fingertips– the cherry

And with the cherry, comes chocolate. Milky, smooth, delicious– the Scharffenberger Chocolate Bar, is the perfect culmination to a meal. Earthy, with notes of freshly brewed coffee, and a subtle bitterness, the milk chocolate is 41% cocoa, and has all of the richness for even the true chocolate connoisseur.

I nibble the chocolate, letting it rest and melt on my tongue until all of the milk fats have dissolved. A bite of cherry, rolling the flesh across my mouth, careful to avoid the pit. Alternating between the two, a bit of chocolate then a bit of cherry. Simple enough for the ascetic in me, yet delectable enough for the dessert loving fiend that I am. I throw caution to the wind and consume until my belly is full, a neat stack of cherry pits lay before me, and a crumpled bit of foil strewn to my side.