http://www.yummy.ph 108 December 2016
PHOTOGRAPHY:HANS FAUSTO.STYLING:IDGE MENDIOLA.SITTINGS:ANNA FELIPE.THE PERSON: Judy Lao
THE PRODUCT: Timeless holiday treatsJu.D’s Fruitcakes
and Pastries
JU.D’S FRUITCAKES AND
PASTRIES are available in
Greenmeadows, Quezon City.
Contact tel. no. 633-1188 or
visit http://www.judfruitcakes.com
for more information.HER STORY: Judy Lao once
received fruitcake for Christmas.
This isn’t unusual, except
that she got a classic Ju.D’s
fruitcake—which came out of her
own kitchen, as it has for the past
41 years. “I didn’t mind!” she
laughs, eyes twinkling.
That says something about
how central to the fruitcake
business Judy has become
over the years. In fact, if there
were such a thing as a fruitcake
economy, Ju.D’s might very well
be the central bank, the source
of all this Christmas currency. “I
say I’m my biggest client. I don’t
give any other gifts. But when
I give people fruitcake, I don’t
sign my name. Bahala ka if you
want to regift it,” she says.
Like many people, Judy
herself didn’t like fruitcake in
the beginning, but she changed
her mind when, during a trip
to Switzerland, she was served
fruitcake à la mode which she
thoroughly enjoyed. So she
decided to start making it at
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then for an ever-growing circle
of friends-turned-customers.
That was in 1975 and, slowly,
it became a seasonal business
that Judy has continued with
such dedication to quality that
it’s made her name synonymous
with the product.
“If you see the history of our
fruitcake, it’s like the history of
the Philippines. There was a time
when we weren’t able to get
raisins because that was when
there was no importation. During
the brownouts [of the early
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iÀi
would be electricity at night, so
we would make the fruitcake
then. You really have to go
through a rollercoaster to survive
40 years,” she remembers. Has
she ever been tempted to change
the recipe to make it easier on
herself? “No, never. Never ever.”
And so she’s kept on churning
out “real” fruitcake—heavy
loaves, chock-full of candied
fruits and walnuts, made rich with
liqueur. The only major change
Judy has made has been to
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i
classic variant, there is a Golden
Fruitcake made with apricots,
cranberries, and candied ginger;
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Blue Mountain coffee and Kahlua
liqueur; and a prune fruitcake.
Off season, there are also cookies
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Every year, she tells her
daughter that she doesn’t want
to go through the grind again,
but she knows deep down she’s
only kidding. “I have a classmate
from New York who said, ‘When
I see fruitcake, I think of you.’
See, that’s nice,” Judy says. And
anyway, she won’t forget that
time when her daughter said, “I
want to wake up in a house that
smells of fruitcake.” And now, for
half of the year, their house does
smell of fruitcake. It smells like
Christmas.