Cherries and Cream Rice Pudding

With knife, cut vanilla bean lengthwise in half. Scrape out and reserve seeds from inside both halves. In 4-quart saucepan, heat milk, sugar, vanilla-bean seeds, and vanilla-bean halves to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. (If using vanilla extract, add in step 3 with rum.) Stir in rice; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture is very creamy and slightly thickened (pudding will firm up upon chilling). Remove and discard vanilla-bean halves. Spoon rice pudding into large bowl; stir in dried cherries, rum, and salt. Cool slightly, then cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours. Up to 2 hours before serving, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream, half at a time, into rice pudding.