A batch of ruined glacier mints in 1869 turned into one of Britain's toughest travel sweets — one that's been carried up Everest, across Antarctica, and into just about every Lake District rucksack since.
A happy accident in a Cumbrian sweet shop
Kendal Mint Cake is usually traced back to 1869, when Kendal confectioner Joseph Wiper was making clear glacier mints and let the sugar, syrup and water solution overheat. Instead of the clear, glassy sweet he was expecting, the mixture turned cloudy and opaque. Rather than scrap it, he stirred in peppermint oil, poured it into trays and let it set — creating the dense, crumbly, opaque block known ever since as mint cake. Some accounts suggest mint cake-style sweets existed in Kendal as early as the 1810s, but it's Wiper's 1869 batch that gets the credit for the recipe still used today.
From Kendal to the top of the world
- 1922 and 1924 — Wiper's mint cake was taken on Britain's early Everest expeditions, long before the mountain was summited.
- 29 May 1953 — Romney's Kendal Mint Cake went with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the first confirmed ascent of Everest, and the pair are reported to have eaten a piece at the summit.
- Polar expeditions — mint cake's high sugar content and long shelf life also made it a staple of early 20th-century polar and mountaineering expeditions more broadly.
The Everest connection turned a regional Cumbrian sweet into a piece of expedition history, and Kendal has leaned into that association ever since.
Three companies, one recipe
It's still made in Kendal, largely the way it was over 150 years ago. Three historic names keep the tradition going: Romney's, Quiggin's, and Wilson's (now part of Creative Confectionary), each producing their own version of the classic white or brown peppermint slab. It remains a fixture of retro sweets shelves and walkers' rucksacks alike, prized for being dense, long-lasting, and an easy hit of sugar and peppermint on a long climb.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kendal Mint Cake made of?
Kendal Mint Cake is made from just sugar, glucose syrup, water and peppermint oil, boiled and poured into trays to set into a firm, opaque block — unlike the clear glacier mints it was originally meant to be.
Did Kendal Mint Cake really go to the top of Everest?
Yes. Romney's Kendal Mint Cake was carried by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the 1953 British Everest Expedition, and the pair are said to have shared a piece at the summit on 29 May 1953.
Who invented Kendal Mint Cake?
According to the best-known account, Kendal confectioner Joseph Wiper was making clear glacier mints in 1869 when a batch overheated and turned cloudy; rather than waste it, he poured it into trays and created the opaque mint cake still sold today.