Spanish Bar Cake.

Here’s a classic Spanish Bar Cake—the old-fashioned, spice-rich cake with raisins that many people remember from bakeries and lunch counters 🍰

---

🍰 Spanish Bar Cake (Old-Fashioned)

Ingredients (9×13 pan)

Cake

• 1 cup hot water

• 1 cup raisins

• ½ cup shortening or butter

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp nutmeg

• ½ tsp cloves

• ½ tsp salt

Frosting (Traditional)

• ½ cup butter

• 1 cup brown sugar

• ¼ cup milk

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• ½ tsp vanilla

---

Instructions

Make the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×13 pan.

2. Pour hot water over raisins; stir in shortening/butter until melted. Cool slightly.

3. Add sugar and egg; mix well.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.

5. Stir dry ingredients into wet mixture.

6. Pour batter into pan and bake 25–30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make the Frosting

1. In a saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar and milk.

2. Bring to a gentle boil; cook 2 minutes.

3. Remove from heat, beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.

4. Spread warm frosting over warm cake.

---

Why It’s Special

• No milk in the cake itself

• Deep molasses-like spice flavor

• Moist texture that gets better the next day

• A true nostalgic American bakery classic

---

Variations

• Add chopped walnuts for crunch

• Use cream cheese frosting instead of boiled icing

• Swap raisins for dates

---

Storage Tip

Keeps well covered at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated up to 5 days.

If you’d like, I can share:

• A Depression-era version

• A small-batch recipe

• The exact bakery-style frosting texture