Vince, a prince in the kitchen

Last June 8, fans and viewers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime live performance by one of PBA’s most good-looking players, Vince Hizon. It was the Commissioner’s Cup and his girlfriend of nine months, Patricia "Shaan" Bermudez, was doing the half-time report of the Coke and Talk N’ Text game. Shaan, a courtside reporter for the PBA, had no idea what was going to happen that day. As she went on with her reporting, she noticed that someone else was speaking on the microphone so she turned around and asked what was going on. There in the middle of the court was her boyfriend Vince in red T-shirt and shorts walking towards her and asking, "Would you make me the happiest man in the world and be Mrs. Vince Hizon?" The shocked girlfriend could only mutter, "Are you serious?!" Finally, Vince knelt down on one knee, slipped a two-carat princess-cut diamond ring on Shaan’s finger and asked, "Will you marry me?" Sev Sarmenta, a veteran PBA sportscaster, asked the whole crowd in Filipino, "Ano dapat ang sagot?" The crowd cheered while shouting "Yes!!" Shaan, crying and shaking, finally answered, "Yes!" Sev Sarmenta shouted, "Vince Hizon, three points!" They hugged each other, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ten months ago, Vince surprised Shaan with a three-month-old Pug they call Jawo for one of their monthly anniversaries. He chose the breed Pug because he found out that the Pug is one of the nicest and most gentle dogs. Shaan simply loves the dog and the couple has even brought Jawo to their trips to Tagaytay, Subic, La Union, Baguio, Cebu and Davao.

And when Vince told me that he can actually bake a cake that is called Vince’s ultimate strawberry cake, I was stunned. This guy is just full of surprises. So, we decided to put his baking skills to a test. Well folks, we found out that he cannot only do three-point shots, he can actually score in the kitchen, too.

When Vince still lived in the States with his family, he would always be his mom’s little kitchen helper. Vince’s mom is an excellent baker, and his Aunt Kitty bakes great tasting chocolate chip cookies as well. Vince recalls that when he was in fourth or fifth grade, his class was given a how-to assignment wherein the student taught the whole class a "how-to" project. While the rest of his classmates demonstrated how to make a tree house or how to do magic, little Vince taught them how to bake.

Vince remarks, "It’s a lot easier than people think. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, a physicist or a chemist to bake well. The instructions are very simple, and really easy to follow. Baking is fun!" At the moment, he fancies baking with fruits like strawberries, mangoes and kiwi. He also experiments with different types of chocolate like white, dark, bitter and milk chocolate. Aside from the chocolate cake and Vince’s ultimate strawberry cake he shares with us in today’s column, he can also do chocolate chip, oatmeal and raisin, oatmeal and macadamia nuts and tasty M&M cookies.

Since he is an athlete by profession, he needs to keep healthy so he uses skim milk, olive oil, low-fat cream cheese, non-fat whipped cream for the cakes. They may look sinful but they ain’t as bad as they seem. He does not use butter to grease the pan but instead uses a non-fat cooking spray. If a macho guy like Vince can bake, then so can we. He says it is fun so it probably is. So, roll up your sleeves, get your pan and oven ready and prepare for some hot action in the kitchen.

Have fun people!

Vince’s Ultimate Strawberry And Mango Cake

*We added mangoes because strawberries are not in season this time of the year.
1 Yellow cake mix
(Vince used Duncan Hines for this recipe)
Jello instant pudding
8 oz. light cream cheese
1 cup skim milk
2 mangoes
2 baskets of strawberries
1-1/2 canisters of non-fat whipped cream
walnuts (or any other nuts that you prefer) – optional though

Procedure:

Get the Yellow cake mix and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Set out to soften. Mix 8-oz cream cheese, Jello instant pudding and 1 cup milk. Beat until smooth and creamy. After the yellow cake mix has been baked, add the mixture of the cream cheese, pudding and milk on top. Add the strawberries, light whipped cream, mangoes and walnuts.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1-3/4 cup drained non-fat yogurt
4 oz. light cream cheese
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta
1/4 cup+1 Tbsp maple syrup
3 Tbsps. cocoa powder
2 large egg whites
2 tsps. ground cinnamon
3 Tbsps. light Irish cream liquer
1 Tbsp. coffee liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat eight-inch pan with cooking spray. Puree, in blender or food processor, 1 cup drained yogurt, cream cheese, ricotta, 1/4 cup maple syrup, cocoa powder, egg whites, cinnamon, and liqueurs. Pour into pan. Place half-filled pan of water on bottom rack of oven. Bake cake on centre rack for 50-60 min.

Topping: Whisk together remaining 3/4 cup yogurt, vanilla or almond extract, and a generous tablespoon of maple syrup. Once cake is done, apply topping and decorate with fruit such as sliced strawberries or mandarin oranges. Bake 10 minutes more. This cake is best when eaten the same day it is made.

Serving information

Servings: 10 slices

Fat: 3.5 g

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