Kendal Mint Cake been making confectionery since 1840 in the Isle of Man. When one of the four sons, Daniel Quiggin, moved to Kendal in 1880, the mint cake company was formed. In the BBC TV programme "Great British Menu", series 5, Lisa Allen visited Quiggin's factory and used Quiggin's Kendal Mint Cake in her Strawberries with Meringue & Kendal Mint Cake Water Ice dessert. In the BBC TV programme "Great British Railway Journeys" (Series 7, Episode 2), Michael Portillo visited Quiggin's factory. Wilson's Mint Cake was founded in 1913, when James Wilson purchased a factory in the Stricklandgate area of the town.
Spit cake when cut is shown to consist of rings – hence another name, "tree cake". Alternatively, the dough is wrapped around the spit as spiral threads. In some varieties of the cake, while they maintain the shape of the spit cake, the rings are actually baked separately and attached to each other with icing. Some spit cakes have a smooth surface. Others, like "spettekaka" and "šakotis", have an irregular shape. Variations on the basic process are found in many cultures; what they have in common is that the laborious and time-consuming process produces a cake suitable for special occasions, such as