Make Kendal Mint Cake

Recipe

Kendal Mint Cake is a sugar-based confection flavoured with peppermint. It originates from Kendal in Cumbria, England. Kendal Mint Cake is popular among climbers and mountaineers.

Ingredients

500g sugar
500ml milk
1 tsp peppermint essence

Method

Grease a shallow baking tray with butter.
Dissolve the sugar in the milk in a heavy bottomed pan. Use a thermometer and boil the mixture until it reaches around 140C, stirring constantly (this will take a while).
Take it off the heat, then add the peppermint. Stir until it is smooth (or as smooth as possible, some graininess will probably remain).
Pour it into your buttered baking tray.
Allow it to cool a little, until you can mark it with a knife, then mark a grid of roughly 2"x1" rectangles into the mixture.
Once you've made your marks, put it in the fridge to cool properly.
When it has cooled, you should be able to take the baking tray and flip it upside down to bash the mint cake out. If you've made good enough grooves, you should be able to snap the mint cake along them.