Place the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla bean paste into a saucepan and bring gently to boiling point.
In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Pour in rice and stir until all grains have been coated with butter. Cook rice for a few minutes until the rice is glossy and a bit translucent.
Add a half cup of the hot milk mixture. This should absorb fairly quickly and as soon as the majority of the milk has been absorbed, add another half cup. Keep stirring and when this has absorbed, add another half cup. Continue this process of adding milk and stirring until rice is tender.
(You want your risotto to be smooth and creamy. The rice will absorb more liquid as it cools, so continue to add milk until the rice is tender but all the milk is not absorbed.)
Serve hot with a spoonful of poached cherry juice and poached cherries on top.
For the poached cherries
In a saucepan add the caster sugar and water and over a gentle heat stir until the sugar has just melted. Add the cherries, stir to coat and let this simmer until the cherries have coloured the syrup. Cool before using.