Aspiring baker gets to meet with 'Cake Boss' winner

Sussex Tech senior Brenda Esquivel has been baking since she was 10 years old. The Milford native grew up watching her mom and aunt make cakes. That love of baking grew as she watched her idol, Buddy Valastro, who has baking shows on TLC.

“One day I told my mom, ‘You see that guy Buddy, I want to be like him,’” said Esquivel, who wants to own her own bakery, have products featured at Walmart, and be on TV, just like Valastro (who hosts the shows "Cake Boss," "Kitchen Boss," "Next Great Baker," and "Buddy’s Bakery Rescue"). When she was 15, Brenda made a Dallas Cowboys cake for her older brother. She also made a carrot cake for her dad and regularly bakes things for friends and family. Her favorite cake is Tres Leches cake.

Sussex Tech transition coordinator and English teacher Stephanie Pegelow saw Brenda’s love of baking and wanted to encourage her to pursue it as a career. “She didn’t realize she could make a career of it,” Pegelow said.

Pegelow contacted Cake Boss winner Dana Herbert, who owns Desserts by Dana in Newark. After sending emails and calling every other day, Pegelow reached Herbert, who agreed to meet Esquivel at his bakery. She also visited the University of Delaware bakery and Bing’s Bakery in Newark.

Herbert was one of 13 contestants selected for "Cake Boss" out of 500,000 applicants. He told Brenda that he and the other contestants won just by being on the show and getting their names out there. Herbert, who is active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, used that to his advantage.

He also had some advice for Esquivel: “It doesn’t matter what you do, you have to start from the bottom.”

As a kid, Herbert would go home after school and bake things. Now he has his own bakery and teaches classes at Delaware Technical Community College, where Esquivel will study cooking and baking as part of the culinary program following graduation.

“If you don’t make it good, don’t put it out. Keep trying,” Herbert told Esquivel.

Esquivel got to see the kitchen at Bing’s, which was featured on "Buddy’s Bakery Rescue." Buddy told the owners to stop making so many things; it is a waste of money. The owners told Esquivel some of the things Buddy told them when he redid their bakery for the show. Before leaving, she was allowed to pick out a cake.

Esquivel and the Sussex Tech class of 2015 will graduate May 28. She is hoping that her time at Delaware Tech will allow her to fulfill her dream.

“I really want to own my own bakery and bake cakes. It’s my dream,” Esquivel said.