Rice pudding with cherry sauce

Serves 6

200g white, short-grain pudding rice 1.2 litres full-fat milk 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways while kept intact at the stem 1 tsp salt 65g caster sugar 360ml whipping cream 110g finely chopped almonds

For the sauce

425g pitted cherries in syrup 50g sugar 1 tbs cornflour juice of ½ lemon Add 250ml water to a large, heavy pan, then boil the rice, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla pod, bring back to the boil, still stirring, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice doesn’t stick. Take off the heat. Remove the vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds and return them to the rice mixture with the salt and sugar. Stir well and set aside to cool. Whip the cream into soft peaks, then fold a third into the rice pudding to loosen it. Fold in the rest of the cream, then the almonds. Pour the cherry syrup into a small pan. Add the sugar and 50ml water and bring slowly to a boil over a medium heat, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat down. Mix the cornflour with 2 tbs water, then add with the lemon juice to the simmering syrup and stir until the sauce thickens. Add the cherries and stir until heated through and well coated. Serve the cold rice pudding with the warm cherry sauce.