\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\begin{document}

% Here are two ways to deal with curly braces, if you don't want spaces around the variable.
\title{\relax {{ title }}}
\author{% templatetag openbrace %}{{ author }}}
\date{Today}
\maketitle

Blah blah blah!

$$
\log x = \int_1^x\frac{dt}{t}
$$

\end{document}
