Not all unexpected ingredients are added to cake for their flavor. One in particular offers only tradition and fun, as is the case of the New Orleans King Cake. This colorful, sugary cake, traditionally served at Mardi Gras since the 1800s, contains a tiny plastic baby doll. Whoever gets the slice of cake with the baby is rewarded with good luck and the honor bringing the King Cake the following year.
Salt pork, a fattier and saltier cousin of bacon, definitely falls under the heading of unexpected when it comes to cake ingredients. Then again, bacon is the consummate salty companion to anything sweet, so it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise. Pork cake was known as a "war cake" -- desserts that substituted unusual ingredients for rationed butter and eggs. Don't be fooled, though. While many unexpected flavors disappear into the overall taste, that's not the case with pork cake. Only lovers of swine should give this one a try.
The people of Mexico and Central and South America are well-known for mixing the sweet with the spicy. From hot chocolate with a kick to cakes made with scorching hot peppers, the combo of hot and sweet is a culinary classic. Most cake recipes that use this unexpected ingredient call for the powdered version of the pepper, used in proportion with other spices. This makes it an easy additive to bring just the right amount of heat to balance the sweet.
Sweet graham crackers are a no-brainer for many cake recipes, but how about the not-so-sweet saltine cracker? Believe it or not, a full sleeve of this salty soup cracker is called for in some cake recipes. The addition of the saltine adds texture, with a nice crunchy element in every bite, and also lends itself to the classic salty-sweet flavor combination.
File this one under "artistic license," as it's only a cake in the strictest sense of the word. While it's not a sweet dessert cake, you can cook spaghetti pasta with other typical Italian ingredients and then bake it in a cake pan before using the sauce as a "frosting" topper. Circular Bundt cake pans are even used sometimes to create an eye-catching main course. Look for recipes for spaghetti and meatball cake before your next dinner party to wow your guests with an unexpected treat.