Sarah Nelson, Grasmere
SWEET, SPICY, CHEWY, crumbly: Grasmere Gingerbread is a scrumptious walking snack and its titular village is surrounded by alluring routes. It was invented in 1854 by Sarah Nelson, who started selling it from a tree stump outside Church Cottage – now the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. The recipe is still so secret it’s stored in a local bank vault, but you’ll be able to find the shop from the long queue outside. Then it’s off to the fells. You could climb little Loughrigg to the south, skyline round the Fairfield Horseshoe to the east, or head to our favourite lookout, up on Helm Crag to the north, to chew on your gingerbread and wonder whether the summit rocks really do look like a lion, a lamb, a howitzer, or a woman playing an organ. Other Lakeland sweets include the sugary Kendal Mint Cake, which fuelled Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the top of Everest, and sticky toffee pudding, said to have been invented at Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel on Ullswater.