Put 95g of round grain pudding rice into a saucepan, pour in 320ml of full cream milk and the same of water. Using a vegetable peeler, remove 3 short strips of zest (about 3cm in length) from a lemon and drop it into the pan. Stir in a half tsp of vanilla extract or paste. Bring to the boil, watching carefully, then, as the milk starts to rise up the sides of the pan, quickly lower the heat to a gentle simmer.
Let the rice cook for about 15 minutes, until tender, stirring from time to time. After 10 minutes or so, the rice will feel heavier on the spoon, as if you are making risotto. Stir in 4 tbsp of caster sugar, remove from the heat, pour into a cold bowl and set aside to chill.
The pudding will still be quite thin at this point, thickening as it cools. Once it is no longer warm, transfer to the fridge to chill thoroughly.
Remove the stones from 350g of plums or damsons and put the fruit into a saucepan with 2 tbsp of caster sugar and 100ml of water.
Bring to the boil, lower to a simmer and continue cooking for about 10 minutes until the fruit has softened and you have a glowing red syrup. Stir in 125g of blackberries and remove from the heat.
In a dry pan, toast 4 tbsp of flaked almonds over a moderate heat, watching carefully as they change colour. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Discard the lemon zest from the rice – it has done its work. In a chilled bowl, whip 150ml of double cream until it will sit in soft mounds (not stiff enough to stand in peaks), then stir gently into the cold rice. Divide between bowls or small pots and spoon the compote in the middle, avoiding the temptation to stir.
Scatter the toasted almonds over the rice. Enough for 4. Ready in 30 minutes, plus chilling time.
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