Vancouver pastry chef Martha Naguiat-Ebro draws on dreaminess, Filipino culture for inspired desserts
Culinary artist creates unique dishes at Westin Bayshore and bakes ensaimada and more at Heritage Baking
The Westin Bayshore, Let Them Eat Cake!.
VANCOUVER PASTRY CHEF Martha Naguiat-Ebro is one of those rare individuals who genuinely enjoys going to work every day. The culinary artist and mother of two is so happy creating in the kitchen, in fact, that she has two standout local roles: one as pastry chef at the Westin Bayshore; the other as the founder of Heritage Baking, where she bakes goods that reflect her Filipino heritage. The lifelong creative says it seemed only natural for her to pursue culinary arts as a profession.
“Everything in my life revolves around food,” Naguiat-Ebro shares with Stir. “I’ve always loved to eat. When you’re sad, you eat. When you’re happy, you eat. It’s the same with my family. Whenever we get together, there’s always food.
“I’m blessed to be in a field that I really enjoy,” adds Naguiat-Ebro (who also goes simply by Ebro). “I like working with my hands. I study the history of food, and I also like art. It’s up to you how you interpret art into food.”
Martha Naguiat-Ebro
One of the ways Naguiat-Ebro is creating edible works of art right now is through Let Them Eat Cake!. The Westin Bayshore recently re-introduced its signature weekend afternoon tea service at H Tasting Lounge, back by popular demand.
A nod to the Victorian and Belle Epoque eras of England and France respectively, the midday spread features several sweet and savoury bites, all served on a golden Ferris wheel and always with a suspended puffy cloud of pink cotton candy on the side.
For one of the tea service’s dishes, Naguiat-Ebro turned to Bridgerton for inspiration, the idea coming to her just before she drifted off to dreamland. Eton Mess is a traditional English dessert that’s similar to a trifle, but instead of sponge cake it consists of meringue. The chef’s take on the old-timey dessert is her Eton mess cheesecake: made with raspberry meringue and cream, it’s adorned with exquisite edible flowers from Surrey’s Barnston Island Herbs.
“It’s a very home-style dessert, so the challenge there was how to elevate it,” Naguiat-Ebro says. “It sounds funny, but sometimes before I go to bed I think of these things. It just comes to me when I’m about to go to bed. I had been watching Bridgerton, and I thought about the colours of the dresses that the ladies worse—the dresses are very colourful, very vibrant. So I thought, ‘If this character was a cake, what would she look like?’”
The Westin Bayshore, Let Them Eat Cake!.
The Westin Bayshore, Let Them Eat Cake!.
Among Naguiat-Ebro’s other Let Them Eat Cake! treats are pistachio-and-cassis torte, brown-butter almond cake, and a chocolate dome with Valrhona Guanaja 70% dark-chocolate mousse with crunchy hazelnut glaze. (Then there are executive chef Steve Rutherford’s savoury dishes, like mini blinis with smoked Pacific sockeye salmon and Northern Divine caviar, alongside more than two dozen loose-leaf teas by O-Five Rare Tea to choose from.)
Naguiat-Ebro is as equally proud of her HTL tiramisu on the new dessert menu at H Tasting Lounge. It’s made with sponge cake soaked in Vietnamese chai coffee and has a frothy mascarpone espuma and cocoa-nib tuille. “It’s the best of all worlds: bitterness, crunchiness, sweetness,” she says. “It’s pan-Asian, and it’s fun.”
The Westin Bayshore, Let Them Eat Cake!.
The Westin Bayshore, Let Them Eat Cake!.
Naguiat-Ebro credits her paternal grandmother for instilling in her a love of food and baking. While growing up in Manila, she remembers visiting her grandmother and watching her make bread, flour flying as she deftly shaped loaves one by one by hand. “She was a very ’50s lady, but she makes a mean brioche,” Naguiat-Ebro says. “That’s my memory of her.”
Ensaimada is the name for the tender, fluffy Filipino brioche that Naguiat-Ebro makes at Heritage Baking. There, she whips up several other baked goods and celebratory cakes that are inspired by her culture and family traditions.
Heritage Baking grew out of Naguiat-Ebro’s Ensaimada Project, which she started during the pandemic after being laid off from her job at the time. Her grandmother wasn’t able to pass down the recipe for that beloved bread before she died, so Naguiat-Ebro made it her mission to develop one that would make her “Lola” (the Filipino word for grandmother) proud. Naguiat-Ebro baked at home and sold the bread online. People loved what she came up with and demand mounted; she outgrew her home-based operation and moved Heritage Baking to a local commissary kitchen. Heritage Baking can also be found at Vancouver Farmers Markets (including Riley Park and Hastings Park winter markets).
Heritage Baking.
Heritage Baking.
Naguiat-Ebro draws on more than 22 years of experience: Having trained at Dubrulle International Culinary School in Vancouver, she was the baking program director of the Philippines’ Global Culinary and Hospitality Academy and an instructor at the Center for Culinary Arts and Pastry Chef at Red Ribbon Philippines. She participated in and coached several international culinary competitions in Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vancouver.
Among the distinct offerings at Heritage Baking are white mocha sansrival, a Filipino layer cake with almond meringue, white chocolate, espresso, and candied walnuts; and matcha yuzu mousse cake with matcha chiffon, yuzu cream cheese mousse, and fresh berries. Both reflect flavours Naguiat-Ebro has known her whole life.
The chef admits that the culinary sphere is a competitive one requiring dedication and then some. “With pastry, the industry is very cut-throat,” she says. “You can’t be complacent. You always have to read and update your skills. I’m always on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. But I love and am fascinated by the art of baking.”
And it’s that passion that gives Naguiat-Ebro purpose.
“I grew up loving food,” Naguiat-Ebro says. “When I moved to Vancouver, I missed all of the food that I grew up eating—particularly desserts—and the only way for me to have it was to make it. I started using flavours of my culture and incorporated that with Western techniques I learned from Culinary school.
Heritage Baking.
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