I’M not a big fruitcake fan. But when I got to taste the fruitcake of Ju.D Lao – culinary expert Nancy Reyes Lumen gave me one, and this year, it was Mona Sabalones Gonzalez, who sent me one – I totally liked it. It’s delicious. It’s different because it’s formulated to suit the diverse tastes of the Filipino. It comes in different variants, such as the Classic Fruitcake which made Ju.D Lao’s fruitcakes famous, as well as the Ju.D Blue (with Blue Mountain Coffee and Kahlua Liqueur), Golden Fruitcake and Prune Cake. She also makes Chewy Chewkies (the world’s first fruitcake cookie) and Ginger Cookies.
Turns out Ju.D Lao has been baking her delicious fruitcakes for a high-end market for almost 40 years now. Her fruitcake has also made Ju.D Lao a celebrity in Taiwan, where she even hosted a TV show, and it won for her two awards. She has also authored two cookbooks.
The packaging of her fruitcakes alone is simply amazing. You’d love to not just eat her fruitcakes and enjoy them yourself, but you’d also want to give them to family and friends as a present for Christmas. Her fruitcakes come in an elegant box that, depending on the variant that you order, takes on different colors, with her signature in embossed gold.
These days, Ju.D Lao’s daughter, Jamie, has followed in her footsteps and come up with a range of cookies and nougats which she formulated to suit the discriminating taste of professionals, students and the younger generation of Filipinos who grew up enjoying her mom’s fruitcakes as a Christmas tradition. Jamie’s products, which she now also markets along with her mom’s fruitcakes, include her best-selling New York Peppermint, Ichigo San (Mr. Strawberry), Almond Chocolate Chips, Classic Chocolate Chips, Prune & White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Ginger Cookies, and her nougats The Hawaiian, Cookies and Cream Nougats, Almond Cranberry Nougat and Coffee Nougats.
So if you’re planning to give away Ju.D Lao’s fruitcakes and Jamie’s cookies and nougats this Christmas, start ordering in advance by calling (+632) 633-1188, emailing jud_fruitcakes@yahoo.com or dropping by 50 Greenmeadows St., Quezon City.
