Yet there’s something nostalgic about this store, especially if you ask anyone who shopped there. You’d find people reminiscing and thinking of Jane Parker desserts. As one of A&P’s in-house bakery brands, Jane Parker was known for cupcakes, cookies, fruitcakes, and snack cakes, one of which was the Spanish Bar. A&P’s Spanish Bar came into popularity, especially during the 1940s. This cake used very few eggs and relied on affordable dried spices to add flavor to the cake. Raisins were the original mix-in, but as the years went by and the cake’s popularity progressed, chopped walnuts got added to the batter as well.
Here, this A&P Spanish Bar is similar to the original version, which simply added spices and raisins. This sweet treat is a double-decker cake held together by a smooth and velvety cream cheese frosting.
To start, boil water and soak the raisins for ten minutes. This step plumps the raisins up and ultimately injects good moisture into the cake. As the raisins cool, you go ahead and mix up the dry ingredients.
Add the raisins, oil, and egg to the batter. At first, it’ll look lumpy, but trust the process and keep stirring, it’ll form a smooth mixture.
Pour into a parchment lined greased 8×8 pan and bake until the cake is golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist, not wet, crumbs.
