Spanish Bar Cake
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Send this recipe to my email.
Spanish Bar Cake. A real old fashioned treat! A supermarket favourite from years ago, this simple raisin spice cake is easy to make, moist and utterly delicious.
Originally published December 2018.
A few weeks ago, I got a request from a reader for a recipe for Spanish Bar Cake. I had never heard of it before.
She explained that it was a cake made by a supermarket bakery that she loved many years ago. I set off to do a little research on this cake.
Spanish Bar Cake was a very simple bar shaped raisin spice cake with an unfussy vanilla frosting. Being a fan of old time recipes, I certainly became quite interested in finding a recipe.
Turns out this cake was made by Jane Parker Bakery and sold through the A&P supermarket chain in the US & Canada. The reader who sent me the request grew up in Ottawa.
I have since heard that it was available in Toronto when a friend was growing up there 20 or so years ago.
There were a few recipes I found on a few websites but none of them definitively said they were the original recipe.
I finally came across an old entry in an online food forum which claimed to have been gotten from Jane Parker Bakery.
The recipe was written for two 9x13 pans. Those two layers would have been frosted and stacked, then cut down the middle to produce 2 bar cakes.
What the Spanish inference relates to is completely lost on me, except if that's where the raisins came from.
Spanish Bar Cake, the result.
I cannot say with any certainty that this was the original recipe. The reader who tried it called it a "very good raisin spice cake" but not quite the flavour she remembered.
Memory is a funny thing though. We sometimes like to imagine things better than they actually were.
Then again, with such a widespread production of this cake, there may have been subtle differences in the recipe used regionally.
She noted that a tablespoon of cocoa, which some recipes add, would make it the darker colour she remembered. She also said the flavour was not so intense as she remembered.
The intenseness of flavour in this recipe would really have to come from the spices. My suggestion would be to add 1 tablespoon of cocoa to the dry ingredients and to up the amount of spices by half, if you want a more deeply flavoured cake.
So, for my taste, and Spouse's, who loves spice cake, this was a really delicious, easy to make cake.
We brought it to a friends house for dinner and it got rave reviews. Next time I will try it with the adjustments I mentioned, but I would be more than content to enjoy it again, just as we made it.
Looking for more holiday baking inspiration?
If you love old fashioned cake recipes you may want to check out this collection with some everyday recipes like Cherry Pound Cake too. Favourite Newfoundland Christmas Cakes here.
Like this Spanish Bar Cake recipe?
You'll find hundreds of other sweet ideas in our Cakes & Pies Category and even more in our Desserts Category.
It's easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram. Plus you'll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too.
You can also sign up for our FREE newsletter to know immediately when we add new recipes. You'll also get weekly suggestions for great family friendly meals and desserts too!
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Spanish Bar Cake
Spanish Bar Cake. A real old fashioned treat! A supermarket favourite from years ago, this simple raisin spice cake is easy to make, moist and utterly delicious.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cups raisins
- ½ cup vegetable shortening, or butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, (optional)
For the Frosting
- 2 ¼ cups icing sugar
- ¼ cup butter, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, more if needed
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- Add the water and raisins to a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the shortening to the boiled mixture. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Sift together the sugar, soda, flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt.
- Add the sifted ingredients to the cooled raisin mixture, along with the beaten egg and the nuts, if you are adding them.
- Fold gently until the flour is just incorporated into the batter. Do not over mix.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool completely and ice with frosting if you like
To prepare the frosting
- Beat together the icing sugar, butter, vanilla and a tablespoon of milk until smooth.
- If necessary, add more milk until the frosting is a good spreadable consistency.
- Cut the cake in half, frost the first layer then top with the second layer and frost again. To get the characteristic lines on top, run the back of a fork over the top frosting in straight lines.
- This recipe also makes about a dozen cupcakes if you prefer.
Notes
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1 slice (1/12 of the cake)Amount Per Serving Calories 346Saturated Fat 2gCholesterol 13mgSodium 201mgCarbohydrates 64gFiber 1gSugar 38gProtein 2g
Prepared this cake just as written. It was delicious. I do not feel the spices should be upped at all because one would lose the delicate flavour of the raisins and walnuts in among the warm spices. Great spices for Holiday times. If anything, one could add some brandy, whiskey or bourbon to replace some of the water in the raisin mixture to add a bite to the warm holiday spices. A perfect cake nonetheless.
@Gail, oh thank you..
That's an awesome idea, adding brandy, whisky or bourbon..
I'd even say maybe dark rum.
I've thought about, the cake (I remember it SO well ☺) being a bit gingerbreadish... So maybe there may have been, in it,
a bit of molasses.?
@Donna,
yes, molasses was a major ingredient.
Delicious. I made this cake yesterday. It brought back memories, that is for sure. I think it's better that the original A & P Spanish Bar Cake, which tended to be a little too rich and sweet. Although I remember fighting over who would have the last piece and lick the paper packaging:) This is still somewhat light, and quite easy to make. I left out the walnuts, and by mistake left out the egg. Still delicious! The parchment paper is genius. Next time I may take another reader's suggestion for the orange zest, but really, it's perfect already. Thanks for creating this recipe.
the bakery my mom worked in used to make the Spanish Bar Cakes. She said that when plain cakes were trimmed before decorating, the bakery would take the cake trimmings from the white, yellow, and chocolate cake and mix them together well, then add them mixture to the Spanish Bar Cake batter to make them dense and to add flavor. The recipe was also heavy with cinnamon in the batter
We had this EVERY Friday night whilst growing up in Toronto. I was much darker than your recipe and it definitely did not have nuts, although you have listed as optional. Then again adding nuts would not make it authentic. I have an excellent recipe for it but do not believe it would be polite to post a link on your site.
I have come to learn that there were definite regional differences in this recipe. Others have said there definitely were nuts in the version thy bought.
@taylor, Would you be willing to share the recipe with me? I am actually the person who originally asked Barry about this recipe. It is a very nice spice cake, but does not have the flavour of the original cake. I have tried some variations, but it is still very much an ongoing attempt. Thanks so much.
@Diane, I agree....
It's very close, but not quite the same.....
I'm looking for, "that original A&P Spanish Bar Cake, flavor..."
I know my taste buds will surely "recognize it, as soon as I find it. lol
@Taylor, if you're willing to share, I also would love to see your recipe...
Thank you!
@taylor, hi. I kniw this is an old post. I am still trying to find the "perfect" Dpanish Bar cake recipe. Would you be at all willing to share your recipe with me? Thanks so much!
@Barry C. Parsons, North Carolina definitely had walnuts in the A & P version we bought. My favorite cake in the 1950’s! I’ve searched for a recipe for this beloved cake for years. Can’t wait to make it! Thank you.
There were regional differences fors sure.
@Diane,
Jane Parker bakery does now do the original Spanish Bar cake, shortening icing and all. Quite expensive, 39.00 per cake, but the closest I've had to the original. A lot of the recipes online don't include molasses. The JP cake does have it and I think it is a success in getting the authentic taste.
@Claire, $39! If ’s it was .39. I was wondering about the icing. I didn’t think it was made with butte, probably it was shortening!
Does this cake really only use 2 cups of flour?
It is a relatively small cake. Yes.
@Barry C. Parsons,
Hello from ST.Catharines, Ontario Canada. I myself worked for A&P for 32 yrs beginning in 1982. By the time I left in 2014 distribution of the Spanish Bar cake to our stores up here had stopped for sometime. Being an avid baker I as well tried the recipe, I added molasses instead of cocoa and definatley uped the spices to a full teaspoon. It does taste very similar and brings back some great memories.
I ran the computer room at one point and it was on the list of our top 10 most sold items in the store. As well there was always 1 or 2 on the staff room table for employees to eat !
Hi Barry,I made your cake today .it is totally scrumptious .Love it thank you do mch for a wonderful receipe .
Will be making this very soon. Do you have a recipe for the old time Boston Brown bread? Would love to make one.
Thank you.
Afraid not but coincidentally, my daughter brought that up a couple of days ago.
I used to have this recipe from a bakery that made Spanish Bar cakes. Wish I hadn't lost it. One thing I do remember is that the bakery would trim their other cakes to make them flat for decorating. The bakery would take these white, yellow, and chocolate cake trimmings and mash them up into a heavy paste, then add it to the Spanish Bar cake batter, to make it heavy and moist. Might be worth an experiment or two.
From what I've heard, the recipe varied from place to place. Likely because of things like this practice, which I have heard of before.
Hi Barry, just wanted to tell you again how much my family enjoys this cake. I made two this week, one for home and one for my son to share with his co-workers for his birthdsy. Everyone at his work place loved it and many said it tasted like mom's, Grandmas spice cake( I think most are too young to have been around when A&P was here in Michigan. I also took slices to my co workers, where the recipe was quickly requested!
Many thanks for this now family favorite!
We were recently talking about this sweet little cake and oh what memories!!! I almost cried when I saw this post. Thank you so much. I look forward to making this cake. 🙂
My mother was from Texas and she made a cake very similar to this, we just called Boiled Cake. We loved it growing up, very moist. Great with a glass of milk, which we got from the cow direct. Full bodied raw mild.
In New England w had a Spanish bar cake, but it was made by Nissan (sp?) bakery. Unfortunately, the bakery was sold and the new owners decided to only make the bread and not the baked desserts. It was dark (maybe from molasses?) and didn't have frosting in the middle. Your recipe looks very close and I'll give it a try. Thanks so much for finding it.
I am going to make this! Hadn’t thought about these little cakes in years. It was always a treat to have one brought home. I grew up in southwestern Ontario. Don’t recall it being so dark either as some people noted. No nuts in it either. (Or hubby would not eat it and he loved this cake) . I also think that if the bakery baked it in a 9x13 pan, they cut them in three. They weren’t the size of a 9x13 pan cut in half. I guess we will get a bonus with your recipe and more cake! I hadn’t even noticed they weren’t in the stores anymore!
is that a quarter cup or a quarter lb of butter?
1/4 cup. Updated now. Thanks for the catch.
If you love spice cake as much as I do this is THE go-to cake for you. I tried uploading my photo but for some reason it will not go through. I made it exactly as written and it is perfection! Only change that I made was in the icing. I had some orange cream cheese icing left from another cake I made and thought that it would compliment this cake. I also love the way it makes a kitchen smell like heaven when you bake something like this.