Fluff Meringues Opens Tuesday on Burnet Road

Austin’s bakery landscape just got a little more genteel, with the soft opening of delightfully design-forward modern patisserie Fluff Meringues & More on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

Combining an Instagram-friendly, pastel-washed, black and white aesthetic with a menu your grandmother could love, Fluff promises to be an unabashedly frivolous space perfect for celebrating special occasions, big and small.

“We are very excited to finally bring the Fluffery to the public!” says Fluff founder Kristin Collins. “It's been a very, very long road and we thank everyone who has helped us along the way as well as all of our loyal customers who gave us the confidence and encouragement we needed to pursue a true brick and mortar shop.”

Aside from their seating and bakeshop, Fluff will feature a small mercantile where visitors can purchase unique gifts like serveware, party favors, tea sets, local honey, and cards. The space was designed by award-winning local firm MF Architecture, whose modernist approach to livable interiors is reflected in the streamlined, light-filled room.

The menu is packed full of modern takes on classic fancy desserts – the kind of baroque constructions of sugar that you can imagine yourself nibbling on in the mirrored dining room of an Edith Wharton novel – as well as savory options, too. “We hope to expand Austin’s current landscape of desserts in terms of treats, flavor pairings, and aesthetic,” says Collins, along with pastry chef Casey Fairman. “We have meringues, Pavlovas, olive oil cake, tarts shaped like bee hives, and even Baked Alaska!”

So it probably won’t surprise you to hear that they take commissions of all kinds: a show-stopping indigo wedding dessert table, or a delicious cake for your bestie’s birthday, or branded favors for your product launch. The emphasis is on the spectacular, whether that comes in the form of a create-your-own Pavlova or a relaxing afternoon tea. If your friends are anything like mine, you can prepare yourself for a serious sugar rush at all upcoming baby showers, birthdays, and engagement fêtes.

But the Fluff approach maintains an extremely contemporary emphasis on building this delicious frivolity on a platform of solidly sourced, high-quality ingredients. Their eggs are laid fresh by local hens before being whipped into those stiff peaks, and that carefully folded sugar is sourced from pure sugar cane. And the chocolate? You know it’s not gonna be Toll House chips here, folks. Think single-origin, ethically sourced, whole bean bars. The focus on quality doesn’t stop with the edibles, either. You can wash your sweet treats down with local favorite Cuvée Coffee, or tea blends imported from the Tea Palace London.

“We simply hope that people will come in and enjoy our treats while relaxing in our sophisticated, yet whimsical space,” says Collins. And with a menu full of treats designed to make even a workday afternoon feel like a special occasion, we’re sure they will.

Fluff’s soft opening is Tuesday, Sept. 25, with limited hours: Tue.-Sat., 11am-8pm; Sun., 11am-6pm; Mon., closed. Starting October 2, they’ll change to the expanded regular schedule, with happy hour Tue.-Fri., 4-6pm. See the website for more info www.fluff-meringues.com