Recipes

[jannabelle1]

I saw a recipe for the "A&P Spice Cake" on a 1950's Facebook group. The recipe sounded interesting and I had the ingredients on hand, so I tried it today. It's actually a loaf cake. Anyway, it is tasty, but very heavy and dense. Since I didn't grow up with an A&P grocery store, I'm wondering if this is how you remember it? Aside from the usual cake ingredients, the only wet ingredients were a large egg and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. TIA if you're familiar with this loaf cake. (BTW - it has a cream cheese light frosting).

Edited to add: Here's the recipe I used for this delicious cake. Hubby seems to be addicted to it!

A&P Spice Cake (Jane Parker)

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs (whisked)

1 cup raisins, plumped in hot water then drained

1/2 cup applesauce (not in original recipe - I added it to make stirring easier)

Mix dry ingredients together. Add eggs, vegetable oil and optional applesauce and stir until well blended. Fold in raisins last.

Pour into greased 8x8 pan or loaf pan. I used 3 Curtis Stone mini-loaf pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes @350 degrees. Check with toothpick for doneness. Frost when cool with cream cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Icing:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp butter, softened

1 to 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter until mixed and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat together until creamy. Stir in vanilla. Note: use the lesser amount of powdered sugar for a glaze. Note: this makes a lot - I didn't use even half of this recipe.

[usafwife4ever]

If I remember correctly from my mom it was called "Spanish Bar".  My mom loved it and always had one in the house.  We are going back many years as I am in my mid 50s now but it was a staple at our house.  Hope you enjoy it.  I do remember it had a white frosting on it.  Someone else here may remember if I am in fact correct or am thinking of something else from somewhere else.

[Kachina624]

We've discussed this cake here before.  I'm guessing my mom never bought it because it's totally unfamiliar to me.  She did shop at A & P. 

[nana59]

don't remember the cake.....but absolutely remember A&P...it was the only grocery store my mom shopped at....1950's....they would put your grocery bags in a bin....then put the bin on a conveyor belt that took the bin outside....you would drive your car to the conveyor belt...and someone would empty the bin and load your bags into the trunk of your car.....i thought that was so much fun to watch.....how times have changed.......

[Kachina624]

@nana59    Our store didn't have that but I remember how wonder that Eight o'Clock coffee smelled as it was being freshly ground. 

[jannabelle1]

@usafwife4ever, you're right - I also saw it referred to as Spanish Bar loaf.....that's the one. Most of the comments on the Facebook 1950s site said the same thing as you.....that their moms shopped at A&P and always bought the Spanish Bar loaf (cake). It really is tasty with the spices and raisins, but it's definitely dense!

[nana59]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@nana59    Our store didn't have that but I remember how wonder that Eight o'Clock coffee smelled as it was being freshly ground. 

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so can i!  

[ritasNo1Fan]

Of course I remember that SPANISH BAR like it was last week.  Didn't A&P also have a Jelly Roll?  Did it have a creamy type of filling?  Maybe that was from another store (Loblaw's?).  And A&P also sold a chopped HAM salad that came in a glass jar.  I hated to share.

[jannabelle1]

@ritasNo1Fan, I saw some photos where the A&P Bar cake had a cream cheese filling and also frosting on top, and other photos with just the cream cheese frosting on top. Since I had never had this before, I just put it on top.

[ECBG]

We had A & P grocery stores here in western N C  when I was growing up through being a teen.