What’s a sonker? Ask bakers in and around Mount Airy, and you’ll get a thousand different answers. The 200-year-old Scotch-Irish tradition — deeper than a pie and juicier than a cobbler — was typically served in a rectangular baking dish and was a dessert large enough to feed a big family or farmhands who’d spent the day working in the fields. Each family’s recipe is different.
And although no one knows how or why Surry County became the center of the sonker world — or even the origin of its name — when locals hanker for warm, juicy fruit baked into a sweet crust, they know just where to go.
Owner Amy Bryant doesn’t go a day without baking during the workweek. Located in Hundley’s General Store, her bakeshop offers everything from sonker to cookie trays and cheesecake to cinnamon rolls.
192 North Main Street, Suite 400
Mount Airy, NC 27030
(704) 301-4247
facebook.com/twilightfarmshoppe
To give her sonker a twist, owner Angela Shur soaked fruit in another mountain tradition, moonshine, and named the result “zonker” because it had a little kick.
155 North Main Street
Mount Airy, NC 27030
(336) 786-1537
missangelsheavenlypiesinc.com
The sweet potato sonker is served hot in a martini glass with a side of milk dip — which is actually a sugar-milk sauce that’s traditionally poured over individual servings of the dessert.
105-A West Main Street
Pilot Mountain, NC 27041
(336) 444-4194
facebook.com/Tiltedladder
Each apple or blueberry sonker is baked to order and topped with vanilla ice cream.
102 East Main Street
Elkin, NC 28621
(336) 258-2144
southernonmain.com
Mark Thrower, the executive chef at Harvest Grill, the restaurant at Shelton Vineyards, adds wine into his recipe for sonker, which he bakes in individual cast-iron pans and tops with vanilla frozen custard.
230 Cabernet Lane
Dobson, NC 27017
(336) 366-3590
sheltonvineyards.com
This stop offers rotating flavors of sonker, so be sure to ask your server which flavors are fresh from the oven. Don’t forget the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!
128 West Main Street
Elkin, NC 28621
(336) 530-4014
facebook.com/royalls-bbq-grill
Anchored owner Samantha Coleman is a third-generation sonker maker who brings a modern sensibility to her classic family recipes. (Editor’s Note: This bakery is temporarily closed. Check their address page for updates.)
139 Moore Avenue
Mount Airy, NC 27030
(336) 705-3449
anchoredbakerymtairy.com
For decades, a remote piece of Currituck County has been a respite for wildlife. Now under the protection of conservationists, this land, the waters surrounding it, and the skies above will remain a constant in our coastal circle of life.
On North Carolina’s coast, boardwalks wind alongside our sounds, rivers, and beaches, reminding us that the journey is often just as delightful as the destination.
From Wanchese to Duck, these landmark businesses and the families who run them connect consumers with the daily catch.
As the sun sets at Grandfather Mountain, fireflies put on a magnificent show — for those willing to stop and pay attention.
