View Full Version : Kendall Mint Cake?
Feral Bill
07-21-2008, 22:14
Anybody have a source, or even remember this? REI no longer stocks it.:mad:
Anybody have a source, or even remember this? REI no longer stocks it.:mad:
I get mine from my MIL when she goes to England. Sigh...I love them!
Search eBay. There is at least one vendor who will ship to the US.
Frau
Farr Away
07-22-2008, 08:35
I got mine in England. I tried 'saving' some, but must not have sealed it well enough. It got hard as a rock.
They are really good!
Try www.kendalcorner.co.uk
Mrs Baggins
07-22-2008, 09:04
I just ordered it on ebay. Never heard of it but it sounds good!
Fiddleback
07-22-2008, 09:04
I wonder if it wouldn't be easy to DIY...boil up some brown sugar, add some peppermint oil...?:-?
FB
Try www.kendalcorner.co.uk (http://www.kendalcorner.co.uk)
Thank you!!!!! I did not know they made minis!!!!:bananaPlacing an order today....
earlyriser26
07-22-2008, 15:45
Wow, I haven't had any KMC in decades. I think I first tried it in the early 70's because Colin Fletcher mentioned it in The Complete Walker.
Kerosene
07-22-2008, 17:37
Wow, I haven't had any KMC in decades. I think I first tried it in the early 70's because Colin Fletcher mentioned it in The Complete Walker.Same here. It was a staple for me throughout the 70's during my section hikes from Maryland to Vermont.
Farr Away
07-22-2008, 20:05
Wow! I just checked out the website, and shipping to the States is L23 for a box of the small mint cakes that cost L11. I think I'll try ebay.
Feral Bill
07-23-2008, 16:30
I'm leaning toward home made. Now for a source of food grade glucose.
Shipping to the US isn't cheap - but for me it is worth it :) After I placed my order I received a personal thank you from them - that was a nice touch!
Cannot wait for them to show up!!
Toolshed
07-23-2008, 21:22
Talk about something worthwhile on WB, This is a great subject - Munching on a Brown mintcake right now!!! Romney's is very near where my father grew up - Right in the Heart of the Lake District.
I usually stock up on MintCakes every couple of years. I have a few gigantic 340G cakes lying around here, but my favs are the chocolate covered mintcakes.
You should also try thier butterfuge!!!! Yowser!!!!!
I got into the habit of eating them while tramping in the fells over there and then started carrying them in the Adirondacks. Tough eating them on a cold winter day, though, between the ice cold mint flavor and subzero air :-?
I usually bring a bundle of mintcakes back to America and would offer this year, but we are headed to Switzerland and Iwill be stocking up on chocolate this year!!!!:D
PS I remember seeing them in the REI in Anchorage 5 or6 years ago. That was a surprise!!!
Toolshed....so enlighten me! What is the difference between the white and brown bars? I am assuming it is how long it is cooked as they have the same ingredients.
Blissful
07-24-2008, 11:06
Never heard of this - what is it exactly? Like a cake? Or hard or soft candy? Just trying to get a picture of the consistency, etc. I love mint.
Feral Bill
07-24-2008, 13:40
Never heard of this - what is it exactly? Like a cake? Or hard or soft candy? Just trying to get a picture of the consistency, etc. I love mint.
It is a block of mint flavored sugar (hard candy). 1/7 glucose, 6/7 sucrose. These have been a hiking/mountaineering classic for over 100 years.
Yummy.
max patch
07-24-2008, 14:06
I must be the only person alive who didn't like these things. I took a bunch on my first backpacking trip in the GSMNP in the 70s and ended up giving about half of them away.
Lol....you really have to love Peppermint oil. Which I do.
I just love the texture...crumble it up in my hands and suck on it. It is like breath fresheners and sugar together :D
Fiddleback
07-24-2008, 20:35
I must be the only person alive who didn't like these things. I took a bunch on my first backpacking trip in the GSMNP in the 70s and ended up giving about half of them away.
That's OK. I lived in England for more than two years (just down the road from where they're made, I find) and never saw or heard of the things until earlier this year when threads starting showing up on forums.
They sound good...sort of. But their popularity in this and other backpacking forums kinda puts the lie to the old "sugar crash" comments usually associated with junk food on the trail. Or, maybe it puts the lie to the 'balanced' power bars...:-?
FB
One thing is you cannot jam the bars down - you really have to savor them. Which isn't bad really - you get a slow release of old sugar :D
And heck, I prefer sugar over energy bars. There, I admit it :D
Bulldawg
07-24-2008, 22:49
One thing is you cannot jam the bars down - you really have to savor them. Which isn't bad really - you get a slow release of old sugar :D
And heck, I prefer sugar over energy bars. There, I admit it :D
I have never heard of these, but I think I might like them. If anyone finds some reasonable local (in the US), I might want to try them!
Woooooooooo!!!!! My bars came today:banana
Yeah, yeah, I get easily excitable...lol!
The packaging was very well done:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a308/NWHikergirl/Food%20photos/Kendal.jpg
ALL MINE:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a308/NWHikergirl/Food%20photos/Kendal2.jpg
Well, till the kid sniffed it out. Sigh.......
There are six cakes individually wrapped. Price + $3.00 per box of six. They are 3 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick. I was told they are now available at Wal-Mart. Most Hispanic markets have them.
I smeared pepermint concentrate on the top and bottom surface of 1 cake and let dry. I used a q-tip to smear it.
Each cake has indentions that are for breaking apart small pieces as needed. It was designed to be used as a hot chocolate base ingredient. I tried it one time straight, like a piece of candy. Not bad!!! got my sugar high really fast and also took care of the chocolate crave that I was having. They are sugar granular in texture when chewing. They may stand up very well to being in a hot backpack, got to be tested.
The applied peppermint experiment was a sucess. Mint flavored just right. Eat them as is or make hot chocolate as they were intended.(another dual purpose item :mrgreen: )
Sarbar, have you tried making these?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/polarizedlens.jpg
Bulldawg
08-02-2008, 20:06
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuelita
Kerosene
08-03-2008, 12:51
Not sure about your enhancements, Zelph, but I know from past experience (1970's era) that Kendall Mint Cake holds up very well in a hot backpack.
Not sure about your enhancements, Zelph, but I know from past experience (1970's era) that Kendall Mint Cake holds up very well in a hot backpack.
I'll test some in the next few days and see how they fare.
There are 6 round tablets per box. Net Wt. of box is 19 oz(1.18LB/540 grams) That's alot for $3.00
Here is the pms sheet on it:) Nutrition Facts lable;)
Check out the calories per serving.
Scientists claim that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure.[1] Dark chocolate has recently been promoted for its health benefits, including a substantial amount of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20one/obolita.jpg
Toolshed
08-23-2008, 18:09
Toolshed....so enlighten me! What is the difference between the white and brown bars? I am assuming it is how long it is cooked as they have the same ingredients.
Sorry for the delay Sarbar, I just got back into this thread. I pulled out one of the packs and it doesn;t differentiate between the 2, though I always just assumed one was pure cane sugar or some sort of turbinado type sugar and the other was from processed white sugar.
I will have to stop at Walmart and get some of this Abuelita. Looks like that 20 oz box is worth 2400 Calories too.
What I noticed after trying the light and dark versions is that the dark one is a bit softer. Both taste good though :D
Kendal Mint Cake Kendal Mint Cake
http://www.hwatson.force9.co.uk/cookbook/recipes/confect/kendalmintcake.htm
According to legend, a Kendal confectioner, intending to make glacier mints, took his eye off the cooking pan for a minute and then, resuming his task, noticed that the mixture had started to 'grain' and become cloudy, instead of clear. When poured out, the result was Mint Cake.
Makes 16 squares
Granulated sugar - 450g (1 lb)
Milk - 150 ml (5 fl oz)
Peppermint essence - 1 tsp
METHOD
1. Butter an 18 cm (7 inch) square shallow baking tin. Place the sugar and milk in a saucepan. Bring very, very slowly to the boil over a very low heat, shaking and swirling the pan occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Place a thermometer in the pan and boil rapidly until the mixture reaches 140 ºC / 275 ºF. Remove from the heat and add the essence, beating well until smooth and cooled slightly.
3. Pour into the prepared tin and as it cools, mark out squares with a knife. Once cold cut into 16 squares.
Farr Away
08-24-2008, 22:10
Thank you!! This I've got to try!