The Original Martino’s Bakery
Tea Cake
Blueberry Tea Cake
Carrot Cake
German Chocolate Cake
Bear Claw
Apple Fritter Danish
Cannoli
Raspberry Tart
Perhaps not as iconic as The Original Bob’s Bigboy, but serving the people of Burbank since 1926 with Cakes and Pies offered at restaurants including Philippe The Original, it was just after 7:00am Saturday that arrival at The Original Martino’s Bakery found the family-owned space already bustling with locals – many coming and going while others commenced a daily routine of chatting with the staff over a cup of coffee plus one of several pastries.
Italian in name, though mostly spanning American Classics with a limited smattering of cookies and an embarrassing soggy cannoli left to make one wonder exactly who Martino might have been, the service staff at the small Bakery is pleasant if not particularly knowledgable of the product, samples described as Maple Walnut tasting moreso of the “Apple Fritter Danish” that I ordered, the baked dough neither crispy like a fritter nor particularly packed with apple beneath the sweet glaze.
Sitting down to partake in the rest, a small thumbprint cookie tasting more like Smucker’s than anything homemade, suffice it to say that the highly acclaimed Tea Cakes were about as good as such things get while both cupcakes were marred by dryness, the German Chocolate faring better than underspiced carrot cake largely as a result of the coconut-pecan topping.
Admittedly impressed by the Bear Claw, a sizable pastry stuffed full of lightly sweetened pureed nuts, it was finally with more disappointment that Martino’s refused to slice any of their trademark cakes – a longstanding policy that would seem to make more sense if the place weren’t so busy…though perhaps for the better considering the marginal quality of almost everything else on the shelves.
http://www.martinosbakery.com/
