# Kendal mint cake



## wisdom (29 May 2013)

As its the anniversary of the everest expedition i thought that i would ask this question.
Is there any benefit to cyclists by using Kendal mint cake as an energy source.They do claim its good for energy,also it would be easy to carry.Tastes very nice(not good before water though).Any thoughts folkes?


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## SpokeyDokey (30 May 2013)

I live in Kendal, I love Kendal,.........I hate Kendal Mint Cake.

Solid slab of sugar that'll set your teeth quivering with fear.

Same amount of energy as a cup of tea with around 30-40 teaspoons of sugar in it.


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## Chutzpah (30 May 2013)

Marzipan. Graeme Obree swears by it, and having taken some on many long distance rides I agree with him :-)


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## hobbitonabike (31 May 2013)

SpokeyDokey said:


> I live in Kendal, I love Kendal,.........I hate Kendal Mint Cake.
> 
> Solid slab of sugar that'll set your teeth quivering with fear.
> 
> Same amount of energy as a cup of tea with around 30-40 teaspoons of sugar in it.



I live near-ish Kendal...quite like Kendal...love kendal mint cake...especially chocolate covered!!!!


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## Cletus Van Damme (31 May 2013)

I live in Cumbria too and have easy access to this stuff, I don't care for it either.


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## Fnaar (31 May 2013)

I love Kendal mint cake, and I want to marry it. However, it's sugar, basically, so is great for a short term energy boost, but not for endurance.


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## LarryDuff (31 May 2013)

I was so disappointed first time I had Kendal Mint Cake. It wasn't cake!!


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## Nigel-YZ1 (31 May 2013)

Tried it. Didn't like it. Prefer chocolate


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## bicyclos (31 May 2013)

Better off with homemade fruit cake with a thin layer of marzipan to nibble on. Kendle mint cake is ok for anorak ramblers which they have sticking out of their backpack for show


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## Twilkes (8 Feb 2020)

Chutzpah said:


> Marzipan. Graeme Obree swears by it, and having taken some on many long distance rides I agree with him :-)



A big threadsurrection, but this may have solved my sugar source problem on long rides, thank you.


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## MontyVeda (8 Feb 2020)

Used to like it but have lost my sweet tooth. These days, that amount of sugar looks painful.

Why is a thread about Kendal Mint Cake in the *Bike Buying Advice* section of the forum?


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## pawl (8 Feb 2020)

I’m a hard core midlander🤬Love Kendal mint cake.Favourite chocolate covered.Also like Marmite on toast and Peanut Butter and Strawberry jam on toast.


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## Twilkes (8 Feb 2020)

Roger Longbottom said:


> Now if he had gone to Scotland for his walking weekends and brought back some tablet that would have been a different kettle of fish, love tablet, which again is full of sugar but tastes to die for.



As a Scottish resident and one-time fudge lover I should be well into tablet, but it and fudge seem too rich to stomach these days, probably the dairy content. Although it's remained me of treacle toffees so I'll maybe pull some of those out on another ride.

"A quarter of lemon sherbets please mister..."


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## ozboz (9 Feb 2020)

Back in the day at 12 yo, I went to Windermere on a D o Edinburgh award week, they gave us mint cake in our packed rations , it was a really good comfort food , I’ve never had any in all these years , but fond memories hoofing alone seemingly endless trails soaked to the skin chomping on Mint Cake ,


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## CanucksTraveller (9 Feb 2020)

It's like biting solid sugar! I think these days that just the prospect of chewing some would have my teeth hurting. 

I like something chewier and a little less sweet, like a peanut butter Clif bar.


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## Profpointy (9 Feb 2020)

We took a load of Kendal mint cake on a caving expedition to Morocco, since the more common caving snacks Mars bars and chocolate would melt in the hot climate (above ground before getting to any caves). It turns out that Kendal mint cake also melts into liquid sugar goo in a hot climate and is equally useless.


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## Wobbling (11 Feb 2020)

Love Kendal mint cake will guarantee a sugar rush no good for endurance but great for moral .The post on Graham Obree I agree with every word in the new world of quick and slow release carbs for short time trials and the complicated compounds of nutrition to give best results I found his recommendation of a jam sandwich to be the most effective and relatively inexpensive


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## Globalti (11 Feb 2020)

I ate an energy bar that was exactly the same as Kendal Mint Cake (although my friend who makes them rolled his eyes and said it was different) and I had a very rapid bathroom event the next morning, same as you get after eating a bag of jelly babies or Haribos. It's the corn syrup.


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## Blue Hills (15 Feb 2020)

Chutzpah said:


> Marzipan. Graeme Obree swears by it, and having taken some on many long distance rides I agree with him :-)


What's the best source of it?
Do you buy battenburg and stuff like that or do you buy it in some sort of raw form from the cookery section?
For ride energy food i generally use my homemade stuff, mix of syrup, oats, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sometimes some ground or chopped nuts. The theory is that it's a mix of slow and fast release stuff. Seems to work.
When younger i did have a sort of reverence for kendal mint cake as if it was somehow magical, a brit gift to the world, probably because a primary school teacher was taking product placement bungs. But, yes, years later i realised that it's just sugar.


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## Twilkes (15 Feb 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> What's the best source of it?
> Do you buy battenburg and stuff like that or do you buy it in some sort of raw form from the cookery section?
> For ride energy food i generally use my homemade stuff, mix of syrup, oats, oeanut butter, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sometimes some ground or chopped nuts. The theory is that it's a mix of slow and fast release stuff. Seems to work.
> When younger i did have a sort of reverence for kendal mint cake as if it was somehow magical, a brit gift to the world, probably because a primary school teacher was taking product placement bungs. But, yes, years later i realised that it's just sugar.



Yes you can buy marzipan blocks in the cookery section - I stumbled upon 500g for 88p so I bought four (!) but it's usually a bit more expensive than that. Ironically you do want the cheap stuff, this one was about 25% almonds and the rest sugars, whereas top quality marzipan is 70% almonds, which might not be enough sugar to make it worthwhile for cycling.


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## Blue Hills (15 Feb 2020)

Twilkes said:


> Yes you can buy marzipan blocks in the cookery section - I stumbled upon 500g for 88p so I bought four (!) but it's usually a bit more expensive than that. Ironically you do want the cheap stuff, this one was about 25% almonds and the rest sugars, whereas top quality marzipan is 70% almonds, which might not be enough sugar to make it worthwhile for cycling.


Many thanks.
Useful info. Happy that amidst some blathering in some parts of cchat this morning i have discovered something useful. Will check out the cookery section of local sainsburys aldi lidl. Last two and last one in particular are the source of most of my homemade snack ingredients.


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## Blue Hills (15 Feb 2020)

Globalti said:


> I ate an energy bar that was exactly the same as Kendal Mint Cake (although my friend who makes them rolled his eyes and said it was different) and I had a very rapid bathroom event the next morning, same as you get after eating a bag of jelly babies or Haribos. It's the corn syrup.


Did he eat any or was it just stuff he gave to others who he'd decided were eye rolling material? Did you dare ask if it had the same effect on him?
Am always wary of eating stuff which may cause the bowels to kick into life on long bike rides.


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## Blue Hills (15 Feb 2020)

Wobbling said:


> I found his recommendation of a jam sandwich to be the most effective and relatively inexpensive


Have often thought that if i run out of snack on tour the simplest thing would be to pop into a lidl or aldi for some bread and one of their neat small plastic tubs of peanut butter. Easily stored on the bike, far less potentially messy than a jar of jam. Have the idea that if need be i could keep going on this for a couple of days or so as long as i periodically corrected/expanded my diet.


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## Globalti (15 Feb 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> Did he eat any or was it just stuff he gave to others who he'd decided were eye rolling material? Did you dare ask if it had the same effect on him?
> Am always wary of eating stuff which may cause the bowels to kick into life on long bike rides.


He makes the brand so of course his is far better than Kendal Mint Cake even though it looked and tasted exactly the same!


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## Blue Hills (15 Feb 2020)

Globalti said:


> He makes the brand so of course his is far better than Kendal Mint Cake even though it looked and tasted exactly the same!


ah sorry - I thought you meant it was "home made" - didn't realise that he marketed his own sugar rush (rush times two)


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## Ashimoto (18 Feb 2020)

Never liked the stuff. Dont see the facination in it.


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## Twilkes (2 Mar 2020)

Twilkes said:


> Yes you can buy marzipan blocks in the cookery section - I stumbled upon 500g for 88p so I bought four (!) but it's usually a bit more expensive than that. Ironically you do want the cheap stuff, this one was about 25% almonds and the rest sugars, whereas top quality marzipan is 70% almonds, which might not be enough sugar to make it worthwhile for cycling.



As a public health announcement, I should advise that of the six 500g blocks of marzipan I bought, there is now only one left, and I am still to discover its efficacy as a cycling fuel as it was all consumed inside my kitchen, and most of within three feet of the cupboard in which it was stored. 

Be careful out there.


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## rogerzilla (2 Mar 2020)

KMC is basically sugar. Sugar (sucrose) has a middling GI as your body needs to hydrolyse it into glucose and fructose before it's useful, but this makes you thirsty and you can do better. The oats in a flapjack will keep providing energy for longer.


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## pawl (2 Mar 2020)

Like the one coated in dark chocolate 😏❤️❤️❤


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## AuroraSaab (2 Mar 2020)

It might have been mentioned before but Home Bargains sell lovely flapjack for 29p a piece. The almond one is especially nice, but they do cherry, coconut, plain, and choc covered. About 200 plus calories but very scrummy.


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## Ashimoto (8 Mar 2020)

Dont care for it and never have.


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