Community Corner

St. Michael-Albertville Grad Hopes to Lick Ice Cream Competition

For Jennifer Folkens, the Minnesota State Fair is more than the "great get-together." It's the opportunity of a lifetime.

The Minnesota State Fair always offers opportunity. It's the chance to indulge a little bit. The time to explore and learn.

And, for so many, it's the time to compete.

St. Michael-Albertville graduate Jennifer Folkens is seizing that opportunity, with the chance to go down in ice cream history.

Find out what's happening in St. Michaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For the first time in its history, Kemps opened up competition for its next ice cream flavor to the public in the spring of 2011. The result was the "Minnesota's Hometown Favorite" ice cream competition. The company used the site Kemps Next Flavor to collect hundreds of ideas from ice cream afficianados around Upper Midwest.

Kemps picked the top 10 submissions, and online voting was held to have two creations made into ice cream and premiered at the Minnesota State Fair.

Find out what's happening in St. Michaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

One of those creations, Folkens' "Land of 10,000 licks," is among the final pair.

"It's gone so much farther than I could have imagined," she said Thursday, Aug. 26, from Machinery Hill, where Kemps was sampling the two flavors. "I kind of entered on a whim, and here we are."

Folkens came up with her creation–a vanilla ice cream with caramel, toffee bits and sea salt–when she was inspired by a candy she tried while camping with her family in Cross Lake.

She submitted the idea, then had to think of a name. The criteria required a clever name or connection to Minnesota, since the ice cream would be featured at the fair. 

"I thought of the lakes, because that's what you think of when you think Minnesota," she said. "Licks and lakes ... it just kind of clicked."

Folkens was able to go to Kemps offices prior to the fair and taste their version of her idea.

"I was really excited, and a little relieved," she said. "I was just hoping it was as good as I thought it could be. It's great."

She's now competing against the flavor "Pubhouse and Peanuts," a salty, chocolaty concotion of popcorn-flavored ice cream, dark chocolate and peanuts, created by Kelly Moritz of St. Paul.

"They're both really good," said one taste tester, beating the 85-degree temps with a spoonful. "On a day like today, they're perfect."

The winner gets a check for $2,500 and a year's supply of her ice cream creation.

"I love all ice cream, so I don't think I'll limit myself to just mine," Folkens said. "It's really exciting."

Kemps will announce the winner of the contest Thursday, Sept. 1. Voting will be tallied both at the fairgrounds and online at Kemps Next Flavor.

There will also be a "celebrity" panel that will taste both flavors, including Kemps spokeswoman Teresa Mauer (yep, Joe's mom), Martha "Sweet Martha" Rossini Olson (of cookie fame), and Princess Kay of the Milky Way Mary Zahurones, an 18-year-old college student from Pierz.

 

Correction: This article has been updated to correct Jennifer Folkens' last name in the cutline and subhead. St. Michael Patch regrets the error and any confusion it might have caused.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from St. Michael