If you travel to Surry County, North Carolina, you might be served a dessert called a sonker, a sweet baked treat that isn't too different from a traditional fruit cobbler. A sonker has the same components as a cobbler — a thick fruity filling and a buttery, flaky topping — so you may be wondering what makes it a different dessert.

The main difference between a cobbler and a sonker is that with a sonker, you bake the fruit filling first, then pour the bread batter on top in an even layer before continuing to bake it. When making a cobbler, the fruit and topping are typically added to the baking dish at the same time and then baked together from start to finish.

A sonker is also often soupier than a cobbler, and one traditional recipe is made with a sweet potato filling that calls for adding some of the water used to boil the potatoes. Many believe that Scottish immigrants brought the sonker to Surry County, and "sonker" may mean "a little of this or that" or "what's for dessert?" to the Scottish.