Simon Hulstone’s vanilla rice pudding with armagnac & earl grey prunes

Method

1. Heat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/gas 2. For the prunes, put 100ml cold water, the honey and the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat, add the tea bag and allow to infuse for 2 minutes. Remove and discard the teabag, then pour in the armagnac and set aside while you cook the rice pudding. The prunes will absorb some liquid, but if, by the time the rice is ready, a lot remains, put the pan on a medium-high heat and bubble until it has reduced to a light syrup.
2. Slice the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape the seeds out and mix the seeds and pod with the remaining rice pudding ingredients in a mixing bowl. Put in a 1.5 litre ovenproof dish and bake for 1½ hours until all the liquid has been absorbed, stirring every now and then to prevent a skin from forming.
3. Gently warm the prunes in a small pan. Divide the rice pudding among 4 warmed bowls, spoon the prunes on top and drizzle over the syrup.