Sweet surrender

At Fleur De Lys, a 14-year-old café and pastry shop on Tomas Morato owned by chef Jackie Ang Po, cakes and cookies are part of its loyal clients’ order of the day.

MANILA, Philippines - At Fleur De Lys, a 14-year-old café and pastry shop at 305 Tomas Morato in Quezon City owned by chef Jackie Ang Po, cakes and cookies are part of its loyal clients’ order of the day.

To prove the pastry shop’s appeal, there are stories — because the bakeshop is right beside a clinic of the Belo Medical Group — that tell of patients eating first their favorite cakes at Fleur De Lys before indulging in their quest for the fountain of youth.

I can’t blame them. The bakeshop’s Chocolate Florentines, a bestseller, is habit-forming. It’s love at first bite of these thin, crisp and caramelized cookies dipped in dark chocolate. It’s bittersweet and addicting. “Just like love,” says Jackie in jest. Well, yes, really, these cookies are love in one crispy bite.

The softness of My Best Kept Secret, a chocolate and caramel mousse in between soft cake and topped with burnt brulée, is a total sensory experience that is no longer a secret. It looks good and tastes divine. It leaves a velvety feeling in the mouth that is best savored with the Milano coffee served at the café.

“This has been a bestseller since I introduced it six years ago,” says Jackie. “Pinoys love soft cake, yema, chocolate and caramel — all in one.”

In Jackie’s chocolate-covered Macadamia Nut Pie, she shares a delicious family tradition with her clients.  “Fleur De Lys is named after my grandmother, Flordeliza Po. We are very sentimental about this business. She is the epitome of a loving lola who focuses on her family.

“When we celebrate, we usually have the entire family with us. So I make it a point to make cakes that can be enjoyed by all, something not faddish. Cakes are made to be eaten and enjoyed by the whole family,” she says.

Jackie, an officer of the prestigious Pastry Alliance of the Philippines (PAP), is an accomplished chef. She won gold medals for both savory and sweet categories at the Hong Kong International Culinary Challenge in 2013. She won a bronze at the Singapore Food and Hotel Asia in 2014 for the plated dessert category. This year, she was the coach of the PAP team that brought home the gold medal for the plated dessert category from the Hong Kong International Culinary Challenge. She is also a chef-TV host for Del Monte Kitchenomics, a show that also displays her expertise in cooking savory dishes.

My personal favorite at Fleur De Lys is the Pillow Soft Hokkaido-Style Cheesecake with Belgian Strawberry Pearls. It’s a three-tier cake composed of soft cake and two layers of cheesecake. “This is by far the lightest of all the cakes we make,” says Jackie. And somehow, her Hokkaido-style cheesecake reminds me of my sweet surrender to the famed cheesecake of Otaru in Hokkaido one winter morning.

“When we make something at Fleur De Lys, we don’t just want to give a good first impression; we want you to think about the cake you had before and remember it,” she concludes.

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For inquiries, call Fleur De Lys at 372-0631.