The Surry Sonker Trail is a confectionary trail that showcases a heritage food passed down from generation to generation in Surry County in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley.
Free guides are now available for the Sonker Trail, which leads visitors to eight places that serve sonker on a daily basis. Of course, all this begs the question: what exactly is this tasty Southern delicacy?
Sonker is similar to a pot pie or cobbler. It comes about by blending fruit and unshaped dough that is sweetened with sugar, molasses, or other secret ingredients. Sonker is also similar to snowflakes in that no two are exactly alike.
“Everyone has their own recipe,” says Carolyn Carter of the Rockford General Store, “and I’ve never had a bad one.”
Sonker’s origins in Surry County date to the early 1800s. A common belief is it was made to stretch the usage of fruit in tough times, or as a way to utilize fruit toward the end of its ripeness.
Sonker was traditionally dependent on whatever fruit was in season, and most places on the trail adhere to that tradition. The most commonly used fruits are: apples, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. Sweet potatoes are also popular.
The eight trail stops include: two bakeries, a general store, coffee shop, steakhouse, winery, smokehouse brewery, and an upscale restaurant featuring Southern comfort food.
The newest stop on the trail is the Skull Camp Smokehouse in Elkin. Chef Corey Moore moved to Surry County when he was eight years old and loves having sonker on the menu.
“Sonker is one of those dishes where culture and culinary meet in a very specific way,” Moore says. “To me, sonker should be full of fruit, topped with a sweet, creamy batter then baked in a deep-dish pan. We serve our sonker with a scoop of vanilla ice cream which offers a great juxtaposition to its warm, crusty counterpart.”
The most unusual sonker on the trail belongs to Miss Angel’s Heavenly Pies bakery in Mount Airy. Owner Angela Shur is a New York native and has bestowed a northern twist on this tasty treat. She utilizes a crumb-based crust drizzled with moonshine glaze and call it “zonker” because, as Angela says, “People go zonkers when they eat it.”
To request a free brochure map with all the info to enjoy a day or two along the trail, go to: www.SonkerTrail.org or call 800-948-0949.
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