Our cherry trees are 10 years old this summer and, in a fitting commemoration, they are heavy with brightly colored, plump fruit, just on the cusp of ripeness. In a few days, I will be up to my ears in fresh cherries.

In March, I wouldn’t have bet on it. We had a couple of late cold snaps and I felt certain that our cherries would take a hit. Instead, this may be one of our best crops yet.

I remember when my husband planted the two cross-pollinating sweet cherry trees — one a Bing, the other a black Tartarian — in the front yard. They were little twigs then, but now are taller than the roofline of our house. At the time we also planted a self-pollinating Montmorecy sour-cherry tree in the back yard, but the deer finished it off by the second year.

We eat a lot of our cherries fresh and, if truth be told, many are eaten under the tree while we’re picking. But I also use them in desserts — and there’s nothing like fresh cherries in pie.

The downside, of course, is that the cherries must be stemmed and pitted.

When this year’s crop ripens, I’m going to make the following colorful dessert, which appeared in Bon Appetit a few years back. It has summer written all over it.

Chocolate-cherry Ice Cream Pie With Hot Fudge Sauce

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Sauce:

1 cup whipping cream

12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Crust and filling:

30 chocolate wafer cookies (about 7 ounces), broken into pieces

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 pound fresh Bing cherries, stemmed, pitted, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon brandy (optional)

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1 quart purchased vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

1/2 cup (about 3 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips

For sauce: Bring whipping cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan; remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate; whisk until smooth.

For crust and filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind cookies in processor until coarse crumbs form. Add butter and blend until crumbs cling together and are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture over bottom and up sides of 9-inch glass pie dish. Bake crust until slightly puffed and darker, about 10 minutes. Cool crust on rack.

Combine cherries, sugar and brandy, if desired, in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thick syrup forms, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in almond extract. Cool to room temperature.

Place ice cream in large bowl. Fold in cherry mixture and chocolate chips. Pack ice cream mixture into prepared crust. Cover pie and freeze. (Sauce and pie can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate sauce. Keep pie frozen.)

Rewarm sauce over low heat. Cut pie into wedges; serve with sauce. Makes 8 servings.