Nate Berkus' Wedding Cake: The Inside Scoop

Some of you may have seen Dana Herbert on the Rachael Ray show last week competing for the chance to make Nate Berkus’ wedding cake. We talked to Dana to get the inside scoop about creating a cake for Nate and being on the show, keep reading to find out more.

Dana Herbert, still glowing from the amazing experience, took a few minutes to chat about how it all came together. He let us know that Rachael Ray even complemented his choice of outfit, which Dana said “was almost as cool as winning”. We agree the bow-tie is a stylish touch! On the day of taping, Dana and the crew were frantically plating hundreds of pieces of cake for the audience, which was Southern lemon cake with strawberries and cream cheese frosting. Yum! The renowned chef judges Jacques Torres and Gale Gand had plenty to say about the cake too. “Jacques Torres gave me some great reviews. Said it was a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness and a great ending to a wedding meal.” boasts Dana.

In the end Nate chose Dana’s cake because of it’s masculine style. He even complimented Dana’s design saying “”If the cake thing doesn’t work out for you, you can come work with my design firm.”

Of course a lot of planning went into the cake long before it arrived on the set of the Rachael Ray show. We knew Dana did plenty of research about his clients before planning the design, so we asked him what the hardest thing about creating a cake for a style icon was. “Nate was difficult to design for because he is an artist, so each step I took with the cake and design had to make sense, right down to the boutonnieres.”

Congratulations Dana! He can add this win to his growing pile of accolades, he was the first winner of TLC’s Cake Boss: Next Great Baker and his bakery, Desserts by Dana, has won Best of Delaware. You can see more of Dana’s work on his website: dessertsbydana.com.