Pumpkin Bread Pudding

The first time I made this recipe I thought I was in heaven. I love this time of year because of all the yummy pumpkin infused goodness that comes with it, and this recipe is definitely one of those your family will look forward to each year.

Ingredients:
1 1 to 1 1/4 lb pumpkin
3 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 cups eggnog
5 eggs, well beaten
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup golden raisins
8 cups french bread cut up into 1" cubes
Warm Caramel Sauce (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350*.
Cut pumpkin into quarters, cleaning out seeds and strings.
Place pumpkin, cut-side down, on a lightly greased baking pan. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until almost tender.
Remove peel, cut baked pumpkin into 3/4" cubes.
In a large bowl, stir together milk, eggnog, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and spice. Sprinkle raisins on the bottom of an ungreased 3 quart rectangular baking dish.
Spread bread over raisins.
Pour egg/milk mixture over the bread. Let it sit for 5 minutes, letting the bread saturate slightly.
Carefully stir in the cubed pumpkin.
Bake for 50 minutes or until the pudding is puffy and a toothpick comes out of the center cleanly.
Cool pudding slightly (it will fall in the center, that's okay!) and then drizzle with warm caramel sauce.

Warm Caramel Sauce:
In a saucepan, melt 10 caramel squares with 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.
Stir in 1/4 tsp crushed anise seed and 1/4 tsp rum flavoring.
Cool slightly before pouring over pudding.