Yield: 6 servings.
For the candied bacon:
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 pound thick-cut bacon
For the bread pudding:
2 cups whole buttermilk
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
⅓ cup orange juice
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons molasses
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon orange zest
½ teaspoon salt
6 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (15-ounce) can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
1 (1-pound) loaf day-old French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
For the candied bacon: Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, vinegar, and maple syrup.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place bacon slices on cooling rack set over the lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, turn slices, and bake another 10 minutes.
Remove bacon and brush both sides with brown sugar mixture. Return bacon to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Repeat basting every 5 minutes until bacon is browned and crisp.
Remove bacon from oven and coarsely chop. Set aside.
For the bread pudding: Spray a shallow 2½-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, brown sugar, orange juice, melted butter, molasses, spices, zest, salt, eggs, vanilla, and mashed sweet potatoes until combined. Stir in bread. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375°. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, and sprinkle candied bacon evenly over the top. Bake until bread pudding is lightly browned around edges and set in the middle, approximately 15 to 20 minutes more.
To commemorate our 90th anniversary, we’ve compiled a time line that highlights the stories, contributors, and themes that have shaped this magazine — and your view of the Old North State — using nine decades of our own words.
From its northernmost point in Corolla to its southern terminus on Cedar Island, this scenic byway — bound between sound and sea — links the islands and communities of the Outer Banks.
Us? An icon? Well, after 90 years and more than 2,000 issues celebrating North Carolina from mountains to coast, we hope you’ll agree that we’ve earned the title.
After nearly a century — or just a couple of years — these seafood restaurants have become coastal icons, the places we know, love, and return to again and again.
