Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe by Love's Galettes
Photo by Truzy's Photos
Baking with the Seasons
Love’s Galettes of Salt Spring Island and tips for a perfect Swiss meringue buttercream
Salt Spring Island is famous for its farm-to-table ideology, but Adina Guest of Love's Galettes is starting a farm-to-cake revolution.
This one-woman custom pastry company celebrates all that Salt Spring has to offer, with creations bursting with colour, texture and flavour. Just take a peek at Love's Galettes' Instagram, you'll find yourself on a joyous ride through the seasons. Each cake comes engulfed in a cascade of petals and blooms, with layer upon layer of fresh and locally sourced ingredients.
A MASTER PASTRY CHEF, BY CHANCE
Adina stumbled into her new role as our little island's resident master pastry chef only by chance. After moving to Salt Spring several years ago (and after a bit of encouragement from her friends at Francis Bread), Adina started serving up her seasonally inspired galettes at the Salt Spring Island farmers' market. Her adventures in cake came much later, and only after a special request from the owners of FoxGlove Farm.
A serendipitous beginning, but it's also not that surprising, as Adina's culinary career is a rich one. Her resume contains several notable accolades, including two years on the line as chef de partie at The French Laundry and a Sommelier Certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers, among others. Her long list of experiences has fueled her ability to understand and pair flavours, and she's now translating this into her fantastical cakes, galettes and pastries.
Since her first experimental cake, Adina’s creations have acquired quite the following of local foodies. When there is a wedding, a birthday or any other excuse to celebrate, we all turn to her to make the occasion that much sweeter. Adina also openly shares her knowledge and skills. She serves up workshops and cake demos several times a year, sharing baking advice, flavour combos and all the tips and tricks she's learned working with floral decorations (find her on Instagram for upcoming workshop dates).
ALWAYS LOCAL AND HYPER-SEASONAL
The unique combinations of seasonal ingredients are the magic behind a Love's Galettes cake or pastry. Thanks to Adina's connection to Salt Spring Island's network of growers and producers (shout out to Bullock Lake, Duck Creek, Heyday Farm and others), nearly all the fruits, flavours and foraged goodies she incorporates are locally sourced—even the citrus and passion fruit.
Each cake is a sensory explosion, with equal parts floral bouquets and edible masterpieces. Think Doug fir tip, liquor, maple leaf jelly, and candy cap mushroom custard hidden under a torched burnt caramel Swiss meringue buttercream. Or a brown butter, apple, whole wheat Rosso di Chioggia radicchio cake filled with matsutake custard and lemony caramel buttercream.
In her workshops, Adina teaches us that infusing unexpected flavours into sweet seasonal confections isn't just something reserved for professionals. Home bakers can do it, too. Adina suggests starting with flavour-infused buttercream, specifically Swiss meringue buttercream. Compared with its American cousin, Swiss meringue is silkier and less sweet—the perfect blank canvas for incorporating an infinite variety of flavours.
Although any recipe that requires a candy thermometer may feel immediately daunting, Adina promises it's very forgiving. The key to buttercream is understanding the role temperature plays. Too hot or too cold, and the consistency will falter. But, as Adina says, it will always come back together if your ratios are correct.
|
Love Galette's Tips for Swiss Meringue Buttercream Melted: Your mixture is too warm. Allow it to sit at room temperature or pop it in the fridge to solidify. Then, start whisking again until it re-emulsifies. Curdled or split: Your mixture is too cold. Place the bowl over a hot water bath and whisk until it comes together. Flavourings: Add up to ½ cup of any liquid (like infused sugar syrup, honey, or juice) or up to ¾ cup of any thicker additions (like jams, compotes, mascarpone, melted chocolate). Mix in slowly after the buttercream has reached the desired silky consistency. Decorating: Before decorating your cake, chill the cake in the refrigerator for several hours (or overnight). If decorating in a warm room, you can keep popping the cake back in the fridge to chill at any point. But, your buttercream should be at room temperature while frosting a cake. Tools and equipment: Adina relies on her KitchenAid stand mixer for hands-free mixing and an offset spatula, cake decorating turntable and cardboard cake boards for decorating. |
Photo credits:
1: Tracy Hornman
2: Love's Galettes
3: Truzy's Photos
Related Stories & Recipes