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Duff Goldman creates a whale of a cake for Dana Point charter owners - OCRegister

Donna Kalez and Gisele Anderson spent more than a year working to trademark Dana Point as the “Dolphin and Whale Watching Capital of the World” and got a sweet surprise by way of a thank you.

A secret until Monday, June 15, now everyone knows the whale-sized effort that went into honoring the two women, who both own charters operating out of Dana Point Harbor. It was revealed during a new episode of “Duff Takes the Cake” on the Food Network.

In “Baked on the Waterfront,” Kalez, who operates Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching, and Anderson, who runs Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari, were surprised with a massive gray whale-shaped cake, created by Jeff “Duff” Goldman, a celebrity pastry chef who also operates Charm City Cakes.

It had been presented to them on March 15 aboard Dana Wharf’s Ocean Adventures during a whale-watching trip. The episode’s filming coincided with the 49th annual Festival of Whales and the city’s celebration planned to honor Kalez and Anderson in securing the trademark.

“This was one of the more challenging cakes to make because we created both the above and underwater scenes, so gravity was working against us,” Goldman said. “And, we had to deliver it on a boat. But I have an awesome team, and Natalie Sideserf was able to join us and she’s amazing at fine detail work. I think it turned out great.”

The festival is the world’s first- and longest-running annual whale festival and celebrates the annual 10,000- to 12,000-mile migration of gray whales from feeding grounds in the Bering Sea to the warm lagoons of Baja. Watching dozens of whales pass by in a day is the reason tens of thousands of people visit Dana Point in each March.

  • Dana Point Mayor Rick Viczorek stands in the background as Donna Kalez and Gisele Anderson — who in 2019 trademarked Dana Point as the “Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World” — are presented with a Duff Cake. (Photo courtesy of Donna Kalez.)

  • A film crew for Duff Goldman for the Food Network’s “Duff Takes the Cake” films a segment abroad Dana Wharf Whale Watching’s Ocean Adventures. The cake presentation is an overture to Donna Kalez and Gisele Anderson who in 2019 trademarked Dana Point as the ” “Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World.” (Photo courtesy of Donna Kalez)

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  • A huge whale cake airs on the Food Networks “Duff Takes the Cake” show on June 16. (Photo courtesy of Andrea Swayne)

  • Final touches are made on a huge whale cake presented to Donna Kalez and Gisele Anderson, who in 2019 trademarked Dana Point as the “Dolphin and Whale Watch Capital of the World.” (Photo courtesy of Andrea Swayne)

  • Castmembers of “Duff Takes the Cake” stand aboard Dana Wharf’s Ocean Adventures in March 2020. (Photo courtesy of Andrea Swayne)

Goldman’s show had contacted Andrea Swayne, event coordinator of the Festival of Whales, to learn more about the festival and the two women’s trademark efforts.

“The Dana Point Festival of Whales will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021, so our city’s abundant year-round whale watching is no secret,” Swayne said, noting the interest from the network.

Swayne and Mayor Rick Viczorek worked with the show’s film crew and planned the cake unveiling during an impromptu whale-watching trip.

“They had a whole drape set up, so no one knew what it was,” Kalez said. “Then they brought it out and presented it to us. It was super exciting.”

The cake was made from layers of chocolate, vanilla buttercream, and sea salt caramel. It included a five-foot-tall breaching gray whale and a smaller-sized Ocean Adventures boat. The boat included two figures made to look like Kalez and Anderson.

“I was blown away by the artistic detail,” Viczorek said. “It was amazing. It looked like a real whale.”

Viczorek, also a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, said he was amazed at how the cake gray whale was suspended in the air.

“The workmanship was impressive,” he said.

Beyond the recognition for Kalez and Anderson, the cake reveal broadcast to a national audience brings even more notoriety to the popular whale festival and the city of Dana Point, Viczorek said.

“We are proud of Donna and Gisele for getting the trademark,” he said. “We are very proud of the Festival of Whales that is in its 49th year.”

For the two women, the recognition by Goldman and the Food Network was an additional validation of their effort. They spent countless hours researching and working with a patent attorney to secure their trademark.

“It was such an incredible honor and surprise to receive the cake,” Anderson said. “I loved that Donna and I were able to be there together with our family and friends.”

Even though the cake looked too good to destroy and eat, the time for that came quickly.

“We admired it and everyone knew it was a cake,” Viczorek said. “It was like, ‘Let’s taste it now.’ It was just part of the life cycle of a whale cake.”

“It was hands down the most delicious cake I’ve ever had, and by far the most beautiful I’ve ever seen,” Anderson said. “I am just incredibly thankful.”

With full bellies, the group headed out to look for whales.

Just outside the harbor – as if choreographed – two gray whales welcomed them.

The show airs again at 10:30 p.m. on June 29 and 1:30 a.m. on June 30.

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