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."
Granny's Apples & Lemonade first launched with caramel apple sundaes, adding lemonade in the late 1990s. Apple crisp joined the menu in 2005, followed by strawberry lemonade.