It's a slab of peppermint-flavoured sugar, doused in glucose syrup, covered in chocolate.
It's one of those things that you cannot possibly imagine yourself eating, until you're actually out on the hills after a long day (or several days) and you're cold and you're tired and then you've never eaten anything quite so delicious.
On my thru-hike, I ran out of candy (I always carried a bag with an assortment of gummies, hard candies) and just started eating sugar (intended for my tea) by the spoonful. I've never felt such an intense craving for simple sugars as I did on the PCT. It seemed to revitalize me, both physically and emotionally. So I can totally understand this mint "cake."
I don't have many sources but I believe the word 'hiking' is a relatively recent American import. The OED lists a lot of American historical examples, but only relatively recent ones in the UK
I would just call it walking, or tabbing if it's at an aggressive pace. Old people seem to call it rambling, but that makes it sound a bit lazy I think.
We used to use rambling for a gentle country walk through fields etc. We'd say we were fell walking if we went out for a day up the mountains in the Lake District, we'd wear walking boots. If it was for a night or more it would either be camping or an expedition - as in DofE.
Tabbing tends to be a military term as far as I'm aware. I don't remember using the term hiking until recently.
http://oakden.co.uk/kendal-mint-cake-recipe/
It's a slab of peppermint-flavoured sugar, doused in glucose syrup, covered in chocolate.
It's one of those things that you cannot possibly imagine yourself eating, until you're actually out on the hills after a long day (or several days) and you're cold and you're tired and then you've never eaten anything quite so delicious.