Granny's Apples and A to Z Creamery join forces for Minnesota State Fair collaboration

Granny's Apples & Lemonade, a fixture in the Minnesota State Fair's Food Building since 1986, has joined forces with A to Z Creamery for a new, unofficial, menu item: apple crisp ice cream.

The Hopkins-based boutique creamery, founded and owned by Zach Vraa, is known for hard-to-get, premium-priced pints of one-of-a-kind flavors, advertised only on social media and often sold by lottery. Lines snake down Hopkins' Mainstreet as lucky purchasers wait to claim their prize.

But at this year's State Fair, Instagram won't be necessary to get a 5-ounce taste of A to Z and Grannys' newest creation. (We can't speak for the lines, though.)

Named "Apple of Granny's Eye," the $8 cups will contain a spiced apple ice cream with salted caramel swirl and brown sugar oat crumble.

The collaboration was the idea of Emily Hagen, granddaughter of Mary "Granny" Wagner of Granny's Apples & Lemonade. Hagen, a fan of A to Z, approached Vraa about taking his small-batch business to a mega audience.

"The idea was, how do we refresh our menu, get something new that syncs with the rest of our menu items?" Hagen said.

Choosing Vraa as a partner was deliberate. "I've sat in that lottery and missed out on flavors, or the website crashed when I really wanted one," Hagen said. "I'm excited to be able to bring it to fans and share it in that way."

This new menu item isn't Granny's only effort to court social media followers to the Food Building. The vendor just joined Instagram, has worked up some new branding, and will accept credit card payments for the first time at this year's fair.

The pairing of a 37-year-old state fair food vendor and a pandemic-era creamery without a storefront is an unusual marriage, but a "perfect" one, Hagen said.

"I guess, from my end," said Vraa, "opposites attract."

Hagen is hoping to "bring some fresh life into what has been pretty much standard operation for 37 years," she said.

Vraa never repeats his wildly inventive flavors, so teaming up to produce 12 days worth of a single flavor is already changing the way he does business. He only has one helper with him in his commercial kitchen.

Granny's is offering him an invaluable learning experience, he said. "They can show me the ropes about how the State Fair works, how business works. They can come to me for something new, unique, creative. So we just help each other out."