Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4. Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time.

Gently fold in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder along with the milk, taking care not to overmix. Divide the batter equally between 12 paper cases in a cupcake or muffin tin.

Transfer the cakes to the oven and bake for 12–15 minutes, until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave the cupcakes in the tin for 5 minutes, then gently lift them out on to a wire rack (I find a fork helpful for this) and leave to cool completely.

For the icing, halve the cherries and toss with the caster sugar. Stir the cherries through the beaten mascarpone very gently – you want to retain a pink and white swirl of colour rather than making a pink icing (though this is not the end of the world).

Place a heaped teaspoon of the mascarpone and cherry mix on each cake, top with a fresh cherry and serve immediately.

As you’ll have to eat the iced cakes the day you assemble them, you can make the cakes in advance and keep them un-iced in an airtight container in a cool room for 2–3 days. Keep the mascarpone and cherry mix in the fridge (it will become pinker) and ice as you go.