The Clash winner gets own show

MANILA, Philippines - Venezuelan-born Cynthia Patos can surely whip up irresistible desserts but she never imagined she’d be part of a cooking competition because “it’s really not in my radar.” But after much prodding from her friends and a little more convincing from her husband, she joined the second season of Lifestyle Network’s reality cooking competition The Clash and eventually walked home with the title Great Dessert Master.

As fate has seemingly dictated, her TV exposure didn’t end there. Cynthia now gets to host her own cooking/DIY show titled Sweet Talk on Lifestyle that is set to air its pilot episode tonight at 7:30.

“I’ve never done anything like this. I’ve never been anywhere near TV like I’m always in the kitchen, behind the scenes — that’s my comfort zone. So, doing something like this is like taking me out and it is something I like doing now because it does really challenge me,” says the reality-cooking champ.

According to Cynthia, she never had any formal training in culinary arts but she can consider herself an old hand in the kitchen, baking cakes, cookies, pies and other “sinful stuff” without a hitch. She credits her grandmother, who introduced her to baking by allowing her to mix and toss various ingredients when she was nine years old.

When she was starting out, Cynthia had her share of kitchen boo-boos, too. She recalls how her experiment with caramel went wrong. “I left the caramel in the oven (laughs). I am notorious for leaving things because I love to multitask too much and you know in baking, you got to be precise.”

Up to now, Cynthia finds herself laughing at her most “oh-so-shameful kitchen disaster” experience. “I set my oven on fire. Actually, that was in my parents’ kitchen, not even my own oven. So I was baking at their house because they asked me to make a cake so I said sure no problem. So I was baking the cake and I was doing something else that I forgot about it and the cake overflowed, then there was a fire. My dad was running with the (fire) extinguisher and it was a real disaster. I didn’t come to their house for so many days after that in shame, hahaha.”

But things are different now. Cynthia can whip up desserts in no time. “I stick to just basically the sweet stuff. Well, I cook occasionally like meal soups but essentially it’s all desserts. My specialty really is the wedding cake and I have a business called Cynfully Sweets and that’s why I came to the Philippines to launch my business so I do a lot of wedding cakes. I specialize in sugar flowers and that’s why I got into baking,” she relates.

Cynthia admires celebrity chef Anna Olson for her style because “I love the way she turns her desserts into three styles. She shows you how from easy to medium to complex and yes, she seems very relaxed in the kitchen. I also love Martha Stewart.”

For Sweet Talk’s pilot episode, Cynthia will come up with mouth-watering desserts perfect for the whole family. She will also share a quick and easy guide on how to make a funnel cake and an almond pear tart. Aside from baking, the show also features awesome DIY projects.

Asked who among today’s celebrities she wishes to guest on the show, Cynthia says she looks forward to the day baking with Kris Aquino, Anne Curtis and Derek Ramsay. 

“I think it would be awesome to cook with her. Kris is very lively, very fun and very opinionated so I think I’ll be having an honest opinion. My father also loves her. Kris is such an amazing host; she knows so many people and has done many great things.”

As for Anne, Cynthia wants to meet her and make a chocolate for her. What about Derek?

“I’d like to bake a pie for him because I want to create something healthy for him like, yeah, a tuna pie.”