About Chef Dana Herbert

Dana Herbert, of Desserts by Dana

Dana Herbert, owner of Desserts by Dana, resides in Bear, Delaware. Chef Dana lives and breathes in

the sweet and artistic world of pastry art, where flavor and color come to life in his wonderful wedding

cakes, sugar sculptures, custom cakes, and tasty miniature desserts for all occasions. Dana is an expert

sugar artist with a number of nicknames. He’s best known as “The Sugar Daddy” because of his work

with pulled and blown sugar, but is also known as Delaware’s “King of Cakes.”

Chef Dana has garnered a lot of attention for his big win on Cake Boss: The Next Great Baker, a

hit show on TLC, which premiered in December 2010. After watching him excel in both design

and taste in each episode, he took home the gold (and a new car!) in the finale. All of Delaware’s

residents have supported the Sugar Daddy throughout the exciting show’s season. He also

was invited to work in Hoboken with Buddy Valastro and can be seen on some of the awesome

episodes of Cake Boss.

After Chef Dana’s historic win on Cake Boss: Next Great Baker, the nation has seen Chef in a number

of other media outlets nationally and internationally including multiple shows of Deals with Kat Cosley

(ABC), and throughout NBC, WHYY, FOX, CN8 and more. Chef Dana’s features and recipes have been

seen in numerous magazines including Essence, Fitness Magazine, Catering Magazine, The Huffington

Post, Dessert Professional, American Cake Decorating, Chef Magazine, Delaware Today and many

more. Dana also graced the cover of Dessert Professional in 2012. Chef Herbert has also been featured

on Food Networks Halloween Wars, WEtv’s Wedding Cake Wars, and TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off, as well

as other local television programs.

When it comes to burning in the kitchen Chef Dana is an expert. Dana is trained in both Culinary and

Pastry which makes him a double threat in any kitchen. He loves to blend his sweet and savory style

together. This caught the eye of James Beard and they asked Dana to be a part of the James Beard

Celebrity Chef Tour which has been running for approximately 10 years. Organizers of the tour loved

his work so much that they announced that Dana’s course was Top Ten All- Time Desserts on tour.

Dana has authored a book called the Sweet and Savory Union as a result of his love for blurring the

lines between sweet and savory. Chef also tours the country with Novo Nordisk educating people with

Diabetes on how they can make their culinary creations delicious, nutritious, and sensible for a sugar

free diet. Chef Dana feels as though the key to living a long life starts with everything in moderation, and

balance.

Dana works with a number of celebrities in his line of work and has made cakes for some of the nations’

elite. Famous people have included Oprah Winfrey; actor and music icon Ice Cube; Wife of the Vice

President, Jill Biden; Dick Vermeil; Cake Boss Buddy Valastro; CeCe Winans, Tye Tribbett, and

daughters’ wedding of famous jazz musician Najee. Chef Dana has worked with some awesome athletes

as well including Bart Scott, Jimmy Rollins, Asante Samuels, Joselio Hansen, and wife of Michael Vick,

Chef Dana is a 1998 graduate of the University of Delaware (UD) with a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel,

Restaurant, and Institutional Management. While in college, Chef Dana was involved in the National

Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH), serving as the chapter president and eventually the National

Chairperson for the organization. After graduating from UD, Chef Dana continued his education at

Johnson and Wales University (JWU), where he completed a second Bachelor’s Degree in Culinary

Arts and an additional Associates of Arts in Pastry. During his study at JWU he worked for the Four

Seasons Boston. After pastry school, Dana worked for Philadelphia Downtown Marriott as the in-house

Pastry Chef. During that time, Chef Dana also had the unique opportunity of being the Pastry Chef for

the 2006 American Culinary Federation National Convention, and cooking for the Philadelphia Chapter

of the Chaine Des Rotisseurs. Currently, Dana is the Chef at the Delaware River and Bay Authority in

New Castle and also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. (Wilmington Alumni Chapter), the

International Cake Exploration Society (ICES), and the American Culinary Federation.

He is married to his wonderful wife Netesha, and have welcomed their children, Siani Rose, in February

2011 and Jasmin Lorin in October 2013.