Ear: Toast

Occasionally, the Ear gets a request for how to find some Astoria Cinnamon Toast, the latest being from Sarah Gustafson. A longtime local favorite, the treat was from Home Baking Co., which closed in 2019 after 109 years in business. The bakery’s secret recipe is not available online.

“I did try to find someone to start the bakery back up,” Larry Bensel, who is a principal broker with Popkin Real Estate and partner in Rose Tree, which owns the bakery and its recipes, said in 2023, “but alas, my efforts failed.”

However, he planned to save the machine that made the cinnamon toast because of its historical significance.

Some cinnamon toast (aka Finnish korppu) recipes are available online; one to try is at Fusion Food. Don’t want to cook? You can order Cinnamon Trenary Toast from the Trenary Home Bakery in Michigan, which has been making Finnish korppu for over 90 years. Hyvää ruokahalua!