pumpkin bread pudding with caramel sauce

Now this is an actual recipe, with actual measurements and stuff, that I sort of follow for the most part, but generally use a lot more than their recommended spice dosages and I've never actually added the raisins because that seems weird.

Bread pudding:
2 cups half and half (though I tend to use half plain old milk instead)
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin (I've used a jar of pumpkin pecan butter for this too, homemade by a dear friend of mine, which was delicious)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 cups 1/2 inch cubes bread (preferably white or egg bread, slightly stale)
1/2 cup golden raisins

Caramel sauce:
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

For bread pudding:
Preheat oven to 350. Whisk half and half, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, spices and vanilla in a large bowl. Fold in bread cubes. Stir in golden raisins (if you really want them). Transfer mixture to 11x7-inch glass baking dish and let stand for 15 minutes. (I actually use a 2-qt. round baking dish instead, though it doesn't really matter, and I butter it first). Bake pudding until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce:
Whisk brown sugar and butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about three minutes. I know this looks really scary, what with the whole stick of butter and the heavy cream and all, but this much sauce is actually more than enough for two whole bread puddings, and it keeps just fine in the refrigerator for quite awhile.

Sift powdered sugar over bread pudding. Serve warm with caramel sauce.