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New ZealandFlavors · Kendal
Tablet of sugar flavored with peppermint oil, white or brown, sometimes coated in chocolate, made in Kendal since the 19th century. It became famous among mountaineers and was taken on the first ascent to the summit of Everest in 1953.
Traditional sweet from Kendal, Inglaterra
Also known as: mint cake
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Kendal mint cake — Kendal, the United Kingdom
Kendal mint cake is a hard, brittle tablet made from sugar, syrup and boiled water flavored with peppermint oil. There is a white version, made with refined sugar, a brown one made with brown sugar, and a chocolate-coated variety. It is very sweet and refreshing, and for that reason has long been seen as a quick source of energy.
The most told story says that in 1869 confectioner Joseph Wiper of Kendal was trying to make transparent mint sweets, let the mixture overcook and ended up with an opaque, crystallized candy. Local accounts treat the episode as a legend: a sweet called mint cake was already sold in Kendal decades earlier.
Fame came with expeditions. A great-nephew of Wiper supplied the sweet to Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition from 1914 to 1917, and it was taken on the British Everest expeditions of 1922 and 1924. In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay carried Kendal mint cake on the first ascent to the summit of Everest. Since then the sweet has accompanied walkers and climbers in the Lake District mountains and elsewhere.
More than one traditional Kendal maker continues to produce it, and the sweet is sold in shops in the town and across the region.
Kendal , Inglaterra
Sweet made in Kendal since the 19th century, named after the town.
Sugar (white or brown); syrup; water; peppermint oil. In the coated version, chocolate.
In pieces, as a sweet or as an energy boost during hikes and climbs.
Year-round; widely taken on walks in the Lake District mountains.
Your questions
From sugar, syrup and boiled water flavored with peppermint oil. There are white, brown and chocolate-coated versions.
Yes. It was carried on the British expeditions of 1922 and 1924 and, in 1953, on the first ascent to the summit by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
The most told story attributes the sweet to Joseph Wiper in 1869, but a mint cake was already sold in Kendal decades earlier, and local history treats the episode as a legend.
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