The Return of the Burbank Tea Cake

The baked goods case near the door stood empty. Everyone who walked into the new Martino’s Bakery midday on a recent Wednesday--myself included--worried that the tea cakes were sold out on opening day. Those familiar with the venerable Burbank bakery, which closed in 1998, knows these “world famous tea cakes” put Martino’s on the map.

Not vanilla in flavor, nor like a white, spice or yellow cake, the glazed squares have an elusive flavor produced by cooking the milk used in the batter. That yields delicate caramel tones and makes the small, pale gold cakes irresistible and homey. It’s very easy to down two or three of the cakes, priced at 45 cents each, with a glass of cold milk or a cup of hot coffee.

Current owner Amerio Corrodi was a student at Burbank High when he started washing pie tins at Martino’s family pie shop before World War II. After the war, Corrodi and Victor Martino became partners, built a thriving wholesale and retail business and developed the tea cake recipe. They supplied silky Danish pastries, doughnuts, mile-high cream pies and flaky fruit pies to coffee shops, schools, universities and hotels across Southern California and in Las Vegas.

“We had 165 employees and 64 delivery routes,” said Corrodi, 74, beaming, “and we used the best ingredients.”

In the early 1980s, the partners sold the bakery to Pepperidge Farms, a division of Campbell Soups, but the success story turned to a sad tale of a failed attempt at employee ownership, financial trouble and, ultimately, bankruptcy. Corrodi retained ownership of the Martino’s name and recipes and now, with two longtime employees, has reopened on a small scale.

But, about the tea cakes: I needn’t have worried. There were plenty of them--pre-boxed by the dozen--behind the counter. I snagged one and settled at one of three Formica-topped tables with a glass of milk and listened to customers.

The football coach from John Burroughs High School down the street was in to make sure he’d still get a good price on tea cakes for the team.

A young woman chatted with Corrodi about her grandfather, who once drove the Pasadena route for the bakery.

With such a loyal clientele, the high school and studios nearby, Martino’s seems set to sell lots of tea cakes--along with Danishes, pies and breads.

Would Corrodi like to see a big wholesale operation again?

“Oh, no,” he said, handing a free jack-o’-lantern cookie to a 3-year-old customer. “I just want to play with this. I want to make something by hand, the way we used to.”

Martino’s Bakery is at 1723 W. Verdugo Ave., Burbank; (818) 842-0715. Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays.