I took part in the
North West Pink Power Walk today for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the Karen Keating Trust. With well wishes and a tender speech by Gloria Hunniford we set off to walk thirteen miles around Chester, trekking through the beautiful grounds of the Earl of Grosvenor's Estate. It did nothing but rain, rain and rain again; but was great fun. My legs are still aching and my hair is still damp, but I feel really pleased that we all completed the walk.
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| Very muddy boots after the walk |
In order to make sure I had plenty of energy, I decided to have a go at making that champion energy snack, Kendal Mint cake. It's basically nothing but sugar with a fantastic, icy blast of peppermint flavouring. The original snack was developed in the late 1800's by Joseph Wiper in his factory in Kendal and was supposedly an accident, which occurred while making clear mints. The recipe used now is kept secret but the homemade version is super easy and works well on hikes of all lengths (rain optional).
Ingredients
1lb of sugar (beware your teeth!)
1/4 pint of milk.
2 teaspoons of peppermint flavouring / 1 teaspoon of peppermint essence
Directions
- Pour the milk into the pan. Add the sugar and bring the liquid to boiling point, stirring all the time.
- Simmer gently until the mixture reaches the 'soft ball stage' (this happens when a small bit of the mixture, dropped into cold water, can be rolled into a soft ball using your finger and thumb), or 114oC / 237oF.
- Take off the heat, add the peppermint flavourings and beat the mixture until it thickens.
- Pour the mixture out onto a greased tin, or a sheet of baking paper and flatten.
- Let it cool (Keep it in the fridge until ready to use.
- Cut it into chunks and eat!
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Sugary, but oh so good!
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