It sounds weird, but pepper was also used in cakes
It was not until the eighteenth century that pepper arrived in Europe and subsequently in the Americas. After that, the exotic spice quickly became an important ingredient in kitchens all over the world, and people started to create hundreds of both sweet and savory recipes that used pepper, like this Pepper cake.
Although the name Pepper Cake might sound a bit nasty, this is not made of the black pepper we know today. The pepper part of the name comes from the allspice or Jamaican Pepper. According to the Booke of Cookery, pepper cakes could last for months if they were stored correctly.