Kendal both poles of the Earth, its popularity is mainly due to the very astute decision of the original manufacturer's great-nephew to market it as an energy food, and to supply Ernest Shackleton's 1914–17 Trans-Antarctic Expedition. By the time the business was sold to competitor Romney's in 1987 there were several rival mint cake producers, many of which are still in business. Snuff production in Kendal dates from 1792, when Kendalian Thomas Harrison returned from Glasgow, Scotland, where he had learned the art of snuff manufacture. He also brought with him 50 tons of second-hand equipment, all carried on horse back.
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