Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the french bread into 1-inch cubes and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake the bread cubes for 7 to 10 minutes. The bread cubes should be dried but not browned. Spray a 13x9 inch baking sheet with non-stick spray and set aside.
In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced pears and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes until the pears begin to soften. Add the brown sugar, brandy, and ½ tsp ground cardamom and cook for another few minutes until the pears are tender. Remove from the heat. Scoop out the pears with a slotted spoon and reserve the syrup.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, 1 ½ tsp ground cardamom, and salt. Whisk in the reserved syrup from the pears.
Transfer half of the bread cubes to the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the cooked pears. Repeat the layers. Pour the egg custard over the bread cubes. Gently toss the bread with your hands to makes sure it is evenly coated. Let sit for 5 minutes then gently toss the bread cubes again.
Sprinkle the raw turbinado sugar over the bread cubes. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle of the bread pudding comes out clean.
Orange Cardamom Caramel Sauce
In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat. Crush the cardamom pods and add to the cream. Allow the cream to come to a simmer then cover and reduce the heat to low. Let steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch that the cream does not boil over, removing from the heat if necessary and continue steeping. After 15 minutes, strain the cream and set aside.
Gather the remaining ingredients so they are ready to go. Zest and juice the orange. Cut the butter into small cubes and set aside. In a medium (not small) saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Place over medium high heat and bring to a boil, swirling the pot to encourage the sugar to melt evenly.
As the syrup cooks, some sugar may crystallize around the edge of the pot. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush the crystallized sugar. Be careful as the water will cause the sugar syrup to spatter a bit.
Continue to boil until the sugar syrup starts to change colour. This will take about 10 to 12 minutes. The syrup will turn a light golden yellow and then darken into a dark amber colour. As it begins to change colour, continue swirling the pan so that it caramelizes evenly.
When it reaches a dark amber colour immediately add the butter. Be careful, the mixture will bubble and spatter. Swirl the pan gently. When butter is mostly melted carefully pour in the cream and orange juice. Stand back as the mixture will bubble up and spatter. Let cook for another minute to make sure all the caramel has dissolved.
Remove from the heat and stir in the orange zest, salt, and pinch cardamom. Let cool briefly before serving. Serve the warm caramel sauce with the bread pudding and enjoy!
Notes
*If you want to omit the cardamom pods, skip the steeping and add 1/2 tsp ground cardamom to the caramel sauce along with the salt at the end