Cherry Almond Torte

Normally when I post recipes I am just giving you links to recipes that I've come across and loved. But this one is genuinely my own. Well, mine and Kari's- my friend who worked on the recipe with me. Back in April we went to the Native American Museum and they were serving a new item in the Mitzam cafe called cherry almond torte in honor of the cherry festival. Andrew ordered one and we both thought it was incredible. I can honestly say it was the best dessert I've had in a very very long time- maybe the best ever. I tried to recreate it over the summer break in Louisiana without success. I was tempted to give up but decided to give it another shot with my friend Kari who is really great with baking desserts and we nailed it! They're actually not that hard to make either.

Ingredients:
Pastry Puff
almond paste- in the baking isle near the canned pumpkin and canned pie fillings
frozen cherries
1 c sugar
juice from half a lemon

Over medium heat stir sugar, lemon juice and cherries together. Bring to boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes of so.

Roll out your pastry puff crust (there are usually 2 sheets in a box) and cut evenly into 9 squares (you'll have 18 squared total). Spray a muffin pan with oil, put one square in each muffin cup, add a small amount of almond paste (you can divide it up into 18 equal peices and shape them into a flat circle), then top with 4 or 5 cherries and a little of the juice. Seal up the edges- you may need to use a little water to do this- and then bake at 400 for 15 or 20 min (I don't remember how long we baked it so just watch it). They are best when hot (but not too hot) out of the oven. Please make these and call to worship me.