Q. Over the years, people have occasionally asked MyReporter for a recipe for Spanish Bar Cake like they used to buy at A&P grocery stores. Dan Woodcock shared a recipe on Facebook and gave use permission to use it here.

Dan’s Spanish Bar Cake — (A&P).

This is a wonderful recipe that makes one 9×13 cake.

Instructions and ingredients: Preheat your oven to 305 degrees (that’s right, 305 degrees). Grease and flour a 9×13 pan. Dry ingredients: 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp allspice. Sift the above ingredients and set aside.

Next ingredients: 1/2 cup of butter, 1/4 cup of solid shortening, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 2 large eggs beaten, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 cup chunky applesauce, 1 cup plump raisins (soak the raisins in warm water to plump them up while mixing the other ingredients). Drain before adding to batter. Cream the butter, shortening together and add eggs while beating well. Turn mixer on low speed and add vanilla and applesauce. Add raisins. With the mixer on low speed add the remaining dry ingredients. Don’t over mix, just make sure the flour is all in before you stop mixing. Pour into the pan and place in the middle of oven for 45 minutes or until the center tests done.

Final Step—Cream Cheese Frosting: 8 oz cream cheese softened, 4 tbsp butter, 2 tsp vanilla, 3 cups of confectionery sugar (adjust to taste, you may prefer more), 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice. Beat well while adding more confectionery sugar to make a smooth and easy spread. For presentation—use a fork to draw the vertical lines across the frosting.

I suggest you place the cake within the fridge for 1 hour before serving. Enjoy.

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Date posted: June 29, 2012

User-contributed question by:
Dan Woodcock