Famous Dave's Bread Pudding Recipe

Directions:

1. Coat bottom and side of a 2 deep (very large) baking dish heavily with butter.
2. Tear bread (including ends) into 1 pieces. Mix with raisins and spread it evenly in the prepared dish; be sure to turn as much of the crusts side down as they tend to burn easily.
3. Whisk sugar, milk, whipping cream, vanilla, eggs and cinnamon until blended. Pour over bread mixture.
4. (I skip this step) Place baking dish in a 4 deep baking pan. Add water to reach halfway up side of the baking dish. Bake for 1 hour in 325 F oven.
5. Remove from water bath and let stand until completely cold. (I like to put it into the refrigerator, but keep in mind that this is a pudding, so it will not be dry like a cake.).
6. Spoon into dessert bowls, warm in the microwave and drizzle with warm praline sauce. Top with whipped cream and add a scoop of ice cream.
7. PRALINE SAUCE: (This is A LOT of sauce; I cut it in half and it is plenty. If you follow the instructions correctly, it will not come out runny. ) Heat 1 cup butter in large saucepan until melted. Add pecans and mix well. Bring to a boil. Cook until pecans begin to change color. (Mixture will foam over, so use a large saucepan.) Add remaining butter and mix well. This will cool the pecan mixture and stop the cooking process. Remove from heat. Combine brown sugar, whipping cream and cinnamon in a saucepan and mix well. (Do not beat after you add whipping cream, just mix.) Cook over low heat until blended, stirring constantly; increase heat-but be sure NOT to let it boil. Cook to 230 degrees on a candy thermometer. Stir in pecan mixture. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix well. Remove from heat.