Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes. With a flexible spatula, remove strata to
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
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
This one-of-a-kind dessert that defies definition is the signature dish of Surry County — and each stop on the Sonker Trail is part of a delicious history.
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.
Twilight Farm Shoppe
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.)
When it comes to matches made in the kitchen, North Carolinians believe in soulmates. From breakfast to dessert, dig into a few of our favorite pairings.
In Edgecombe County, the country’s second-oldest remaining town common is the gateway to its sprawling historic district. Travel these acres and blocks on a reflective trip through time.