Kendal Mint Cake

Kendal is famous for its Kendal Mint Cake, a high-glucose-content, very sweet candy. According to legend, a Kendal confectioner, trying to make glacier mints, forgot to keep a close watch on the candy and discovered that the mixture in the pan turned cloudy and grainy. He poured it out anyway, and the rest is historythe famous Kendal Mint Cake.

This mistake gone right is credited to Joseph Wiper, who produced the cakes in his factory in 1869. His great nephew, Robert Wiper, supplied Kendal Mint Cakes as energy boosters to the 1914-17 Arctic Expedition under the command of Shackleton.

A different company, Romneys, was founded by Sam Clarke, who owned a wholesale confectioners in Kendal. In 1919 he bought an old Mint Cake recipe, and started a factory. In 1953 this company supplied Kendal Mint Cake to Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mt. Everest.

Kendal Mint Cake is available in many shops in Cumbria.

Photo courtesy of Graeme Dougal

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