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Did Ina Garten Steal A Cake Recipe From Hershey’s?
Published on: December 21, 2009 – 11:41 am by Jillian Madison 
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Ina Garten has a recipe on the Food Network’s website called “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake.” It’s one of her most popular recipes, and it currently has over 600 positive comments from Food Network readers.
There’s no denying it’s a delicious cake, but Houston, we have a problem: several people recently noticed that the recipe is virtually identical to Hershey’s Black Magic Cake, a family favorite that’s been around since the 1960s. And they’re right. The only difference is that Ina’s recipe calls for “GOOD COCOA” (of course it does) while Hershey’s recipe obviously calls for “HERSHEY’S COCOA.”
It should be noted that Ina also threw the word “PURE” in front of the vanilla extract. You know, just in case there were people out there who dared ruin this hallowed cake with a bottle of old vanilla they picked up at TJ Maxx for $2.99.
Ina originally made the cake for her friends Michael and Ben on an episode called Flavors And Flowers, and only briefly referenced “Beatty” as being Michael’s grandmother. You can watch a video of Ina making the cake on Food Network’s website, if you can tolerate their obnoxious pop-up and pop-under Netflix advertisements. [Food Network had a record year, and yet they're still annoying and alienating their website viewers for the sake of website advertising revenue?!]
I can’t see how Ina could possibly try to pass this off as a new recipe. Unless, of course, Beatty worked for Hershey’s.
(Thanks for the tip, Karell!)
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I had no idea that Michaels’ grandmother was Warren Beatty. Who’d a thunk….
Truly, it’s been my arguement all along that Ina has made a substantial living by writing a dozen recipes (and obviously not even original recipes)and then rewrote them over and over and over in her many books. Got away with it by changing ‘chicken pot pie’ to ‘lobster pot pie’. Whoo-hoo. Gee, I would never have thought of that.
We’re all being suckered folks…taken to the cleaners and we don’t even know our pants are off….
Finally, it is obvious that the Barefoot Empress has no clothes.
Thanks for the mental picture of that. Too bad it happens to be right AFTER I just finished my lunch. Excuse me…URP!!!
Excellent!
Ina, you dirty little thief! The masquerade is over, Toots. You can now come clean. You got that Fleur de Sel caramel recipe from the back of a bag of Kraft caramels…DIDN’T YOU??? And that Jalapeno Cheddar bread you have been trying to foist off on us as your own? Didn’t I see that on the back of a box of Bisquick just the other day? FOR SHAME, INA. FOR SHAME!!!
LMAO :)
Wouldn’t it be great to have Aunt(hic)Sandy make her own version of Ina Garten’s recipes? “It’s soooooo sooper simple to make the Semi-Ho Fleur-de-Sel caramels that you won’t believe it! Start by opening a bottle of Grey Goose vodka, a box of salt, and some plastic wrapped caramels from the bulk foods store. Save those plastic wrappers because in the last half of the show I’m going to show you how I used them to make a bbbbbbbbeautiful tablescape.” *slurps some vodka straight from the bottle* “Now… (burpff) pour some GOOD salt on the counter and press the caramels into the salt! Voila! That’s French ya know! Now you’ve made Fleur-de-Sel caramels the Semi-Ho way! *Slurp,hic,burp* “Out of olives? Just insert a toothpick into one of our caramels and insert it in your drinkie-poo. *Slurp, burp, slurpppp* “After we come back from the break *hic* I’m going to show you my bbbbbbbbbbeautiful Russell Stover patchwork quilted table cloth and Fleur-de-Sel caramel prisms that hang from my light fixture.”
That was the best Aunt(hic)(burfppf)Sandy show I ever did saw….
“I had no idea that Michaels’ grandmother was Warren Beatty. Who’d a thunk”
Actually Warren Beatty’s too young to be Michael’s grandmother, it was probably the lion tamer, Clyde Beatty.
who is Michael?
One of Ina’s many Hamptons’ “friends”: The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker…Michael is the florist in the group.
Butcher and baker. More like florist, interior decorator and power lesbian publisher.
I have a family recipe for braised spare ribs I was given, that I was told was my grandmother’s, and which I encountered in the Big yellow box that is the Betty Crocker Library of food cards.
So there’s a whole generation of recipe stealing grandmothers out there. Who knew.
Most all FN chefs pilfer recipes from someone else (real chefs perhaps).Doubtful any of them do any recipe development.
Ina is no different from any of them .
Plagiaristic idiots.
True that. I defy folks to find us original recipes from the bulk of these clowns on TFN. Hey, didn’t Martha supposedly nick a recipe from Ina?
You are so right! Paula Deens theft of the recipe for Gooey Butter Cake for example. It was published in the Globe Democrat in 1970 by Marion O’Brian. She got it from the bakery that developed it when they closed shop. In fact they gave her all of their recipes.
Did Ina Garten steal and bake a chocolate cake from the 1960s? Now, I’m not saying that Ina Garten stole and baked a chocolate cake from the 1960s, but you have to wonder.
Ina (openly) says, by mastering a few ‘basic’ recipes, you can change the ingredients and have a delicious dish every time. So whether it’s chicken or lobster pie, it’s still a good pie. She makes no secret of that. If you think it’s re-running, then so be it.
Never made this cake, but her cookbook has no mention of Beatty, only ‘His grandfather used to have a milk route in Pennsylvania Dutch country and his grandmother baked this chocolate cake for him to deliver to customers with their milk.’ I make her Chocolate Ganache Cake all the time.
IMO, she’s still the best chef by far on FN.
That would be true, Oh_Come_On, if ina actually CHANGED the ingredients. She didn’t. She stole the whole thing under the guise of it being Beatty’s, which is pretty ridiculous.
Not to mention the fact that there are copyright notices all over Food Networks website stating that no one can copy or reproduce that recipe. Ironic considering that’s exactly what Ina, er, Beatty, did.
I’m not thinking it’s re-running a recipe, I’m thinking it IS a rerun recipe. Rerun in several different cookbooks. Several different cookbooks that seemingly make her very clever and talented.
Look, she’s a wealthy woman who has alot of pull. She keeps her book editors on her show (Frank is one of them) who gets a nice royalty check when he’s on. She’s not stupid. She knows who butter’s her bread. Don’t be fooled by her nice guy act. She didn’t get where she is today because she knows how to make raspberry sauce. She is where she is today because she has friends in high places, has plenty of money to wait clobber somebody in her way and thinks we don’t notice her repetativity.
You need to be careful byrdie. Ina might make you disappeared. You don’t want a couple of effeminate men in suites and dark glasses showing up at your door. They’ll take you sky diving without a parachute over the Atlantic.
Maybe you’re right Sam. We all know that Ina and her gay gang are capable of committing a B&E. Ha. Nah, the ‘gang’ wouldn’t leave the Hamptons. Too much free food.
@Byrdie: Ina’s “friends” would invite you to the wind-blown beach that they have decorated to the nines. They would blindfold you, spin you around, then lead you into the raging surf…never to be seen or heard from again!
Too easy, CR! All my escape would require is a fake turn and point “look, Michael, a hydrangea plant”…yeah, waaaayy toooo easy (giggle), as Ina would say.
Imitation vanilla does suck, BTW. :P
Wait, you mean I shouldn’t be using the bottle of $2.99 vanilla I got at TJ Maxx? Damn.
Use at your own peril! LOL…..
I’m so used to using cheap, store brand vanilla, that when I finally caved and bought some “really good” vanilla, it was too much and I had to halve the amount in all of my recipes because the vanilla flavor was so strong it wrecked everything. I am so low brow…and I have friends in low places, unlike Ina. ; )
I am saddened by this news. But, lets give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe just maybe she truly was told that story and truly believed it. Nah, no way, because just a few months ago I thought I had invented a wonderful last minute pasta dish. But, before I blew my own horn I decided to research online to see if anything was similar why yes of course there was. Not, exactly like mine but enough for me not to actually say it is MY recipe I guess I could say my version. Ok I am just an average person with enough sense to look something up. Ok food network who was sleeping on the job? Or did you know and didn’t really care? Did you really think that average people wouldn’t catch on??
You can make your own “real” vanilla using vanilla beans steeped in vodka. Urp!
Unless Aunt(hic)(burp)Sandy hasn’t bought up all the vodka this lovely Christmas season…
Aunt Sandy style!
I’m almost positive Aunt Sandy uses extract so often, because she takes hits of it off camera.
Maybe Hershey’s stole it from ol’ Beatty.
I used to work for a specialty food store and I can see Ina’s logic. She took “Beatty’s” recipe, used “good” ingredients, and called it her own. Much like how a specialty food store could take a can of Folger’s, bring it through their doors, and mark it up 500% for the privilege of buying it there. Honest or not, there’s no denying that Ina is a savvy business woman.
Let me add: Since we live in a society of conspicuous consumption, people (a.k.a. sheep) will pay extra for something in order to appear “special.”
Alex, I remember my mother buying up a bunch of generic can goods. Had to ask one day why so many ( I was about 8). She called them ‘. double labels’ Store brand over name brand!
I had a friend in highschool that was Greek. His family went to Greece (and abroad) one summer and when he came back he brought me some of those Ferror Rocher candies. This was before they were in every Walgreens across America. I don’t doubt he bought them in some ethnic little town but I turned it over and it said made in Mexico. Not exactly unique considering Mexico is only eight hours away.
Haha this totally reminds me of the episode of “Saved by the Bell” where Screech makes this killer tomato sauce from his grandma’s recipe that the kids start selling only to be handed a cease and desist by the “Betsy Crocker” company for stealing their recipe. When they confront Screech about it, he’s like “Well of course it’s from a recipe book. Grandma was a terrible cook!!”
I am reminded of the Friends episode with Phoebe’s grandma’s cookies (the grandma was named ‘Nestle Tollhouse’…lol)
Haha I haven’t seen that episode of “Friends,” but it sounds hilarious. Finally reduced to crappy sitcom comparisons, and unfortunately all the good vanilla in the world can’t save you now, Ina!
I am shocked and mortified at this slander.
Clearly, that “Beatty” stole the recipe and fooled Ina into thinking it was hers.
I say anyone else who wishes to show their support for Ina gather tonight at the windmill, in our denim shirts, for a candlelight vigil.
And bring a dish to pass…something with either some “really good” vanilla or a mystery ingredient to really pump up the volume in it.
We shall label them recipes A and B, and then interrupt while others are eating to ask which they like better, and then have a fake laugh.
Ina probably has some kind of TSA contraption at her door that scans dishes brought to pass for their “good ingredient” content. If your potluck doesn’t pass muster, you don’t get to join the festivities. LOL – Ina’s giggle, of course!
I’ll be the one wearing ‘good’ vanilla behind my ears
I wonder if Shirley MacLaine (Beatty’s sister) and/or Annette Bening (Beatty’s wife) bake “Ina’s” chocolate cake?
You know, I could see Ina not knowing this was just a Hershey’s recipe. Do you really see her prowling a website as low-rent as she probably thinks Hershey’s is looking for recipes? I could be wrong, but I think the Ghirardelli’s website is more her speed. I also think it’s sad that we now aren’t surprised when we realize a recipe used by an FN cook is stolen from a product website or label
Ina has, on occasion when a recipe calls for chocolate syrup, been seen using Hershey’s syrup. She tries to turn the can around, but you can tell because of the distinct packaging: the really dark brown label and the big Hershey’s lettering that is pretty hard to hide. Heck, maybe she and Jeffrey even go to Hershey Park every summer and ride the Wildcat while munching on Reese’s peanut butter cups and then take a walk down Hershey’s main street with Hershey Kiss streetlights and share a few kisses under the kisses, as it were. Shh…don’t tell Dwyer and the gang…they think Ina spends all of her vacations in Paris, and they would be crushed to know she visits middle class amusement parks that are patronized by the unwashed masses (us). LOL!
In her chocolate ganache cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting recipe, she recommends Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup. I must add that the cupcakes are to die for. She also puts instant coffee into the batter and the frosting, I use instant espresso, and the last time I made them I added cinnamon, that was even better.
I’ve noticed that several of Hershey’s recipes are exact copies or very similar to recipes that my family has handed down for several generations. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised is Hershey’s is actually the one plagiarizing here.
I have so little regard for the FN celebrity cooks or any shred of integrity they might have, I’d wager that very few of “their” russipees are original (and that includes those who actually have restaurant chef experience and not just Aunt Sandy).
I have a few chef friends who tell me that their favorite chocolate cake is the one on the can of Hershey’s cocoa. And they don’t have any problem admitting it.
Oh well, I guess there’s rarely anything REALLY new under the sun?
At least Ina’s end product tastes good.
As oppoosed to, say, Sandra, who would probably add to the original recipe:
a packet of turkey gravy
a packet of taco seasoning
2 tbsp of jarlic
and stick a flourish of peacock feathers on top
and call it an original masterpiece
Speaking of recipe theft, Pauler has a standing rib roast recipe that FN lovers are saying they have made for the past three years, well I have been making this EXACT recipe for almst 30 years! Also, the Neely’s keep claimng they made up the “Sock it to me Cake,” but that’s also been been around for 30+ years, was on the back of a cake box!
Y’all know I meant cake”mix” box.
Don’t know if Hershey’s has changed the recipe, but I bought a container of Hershey’s cocoa yesterday, and there are many differences between Ina’s recipe and the one on the Hershey container.
[...] Did the Barefoot Contessa steal her chocolate cake recipe from Hersey’s? (FOOD NETWORK HUMOR) [...]
It annoys me how Paula Deen claims gooey butter cakes, but I was baking them well before I’d heard of her.
I agree Kimberly, it just frustrates the heck out of me.
I can see Ina now, baking this delicious cake, cutting a heaping slice, and then heading for the couch. Nearby, a fire roars in the fireplace, her goblet is filled with tasty imported white wine. Johnny Mathis warbles on the vintage stereo, while visions of Jeffrey dance in Ina’s head. She delicately puts down her plate (on a gleaming coffee table) then sits down. On a whim, feeling childlike and remembering all those early days of dreidels and gold candy coins, she draws up her legs and attempts to sit as she did in 1958. With effort, her mouth a grim line, she pulls her uncooperative legs forward, using one pudgy hand for the task.
Suddenly, her toes break free, the two gargantuan legs snap forward like a caterpault, connecting with the cofee table and sending it crashing into the wall. The cake also goes off in its own trajectory, landing with a splat in front of the warm, inviting fireplace.
Ina then attempts to pull herself from the couch, only to find that it takes too much effort. Overcome by the effort, fighting off a carb coma, she leans back and begins snoring. Five minutes later, she wakes with a snort. Christ, where is that sleep apnea mask?
i think it’s kind of like when charlie daniels got sued for supposedly stealing some unknown songwriter’s song. mr. daniels said, “there are only 12 notes to begin with. i was bound to reuse some.”
Hey guys
Question for people – was the film producers featured on Ina’s show (you know, the one where she made them breakfast (granola) and lunch) – the Weinstein Co? I could swear that it is…..
I couldn’t find it on Google.
Ina uses buttermilk in her chocolate cake, but I don’t. Both cakes have their origins in the Pennsylvania Dutch country home cooking.
You know what’s funny? As I was reading this post, a Netflix ad happened to pop up. No joke.
I didn’t read the whole list of replies, but as I recall, the chocolate cake was “Michael’s Grandmother’s” recipe.
So Michael may have pawned it off on Ina as genuine…it was his GRANDMOTHER who actually stole it.
Ina should be held harmless…
Although it IS illegal to receive stolen merchandise. Not sure if that pertains to recipes or not.
I bet Michael knew. Dirtbag.
To put it out there, I noticed a while back my grandma’s cake recipe was similar to the one on the Hershey’s tin. It’s very possible that his grandmother got it from that.
Then again, the comment someone wrote about how it describes it in the book sounds like TOTAL bs.
Sigh.
The pa.dutch dk chocolate cake recipe Michael claims comes from his family is a bunch of hooey…I was raised in Pa and that recipe is so common in Pa it’s not funny. That is the only chocolate cake most people ever made. When I saw her make it on her show and her claim about it being Michael’s granmother’s I about fell over. I have a Pa Dutch Recipe cookbook that it is in and I knew few people that didn’t know that recipe by heart. And, the other recipe she made that blew me out of the water was her spaghetti sauce with crushed tomatoes, paste…it is exactly like the recipe my mother taught me over 30 years ago and she learned it from an Italian woman whom she lived next door to in the 1940’s…SO, are these claims by Ina true…not when you have so many people recognizing recipes. I am sorry, but I put my twist on things almost everytime I cook. And, I have bought some of Paula Deen’s books, but no more. This past Christmas, when I read one recipe and it made no sense and then I tried it and realized it was senseless and had to reform it for it to come out right…I realized then how little they proof read what they put out there. They are money making machines…every single one of them…I think Paula may have more heart then the rest of them, but they all are in it for the same reason… to make themselves richer. Good for them for success, but no more will they pad their coffers at my expense.
Glad to see this posted as I have watched as Ina added an extra ingredient to a receipe, write it down and comment that it will be included in next book. If this is all it takes to get a cookbook out and get big $$’s then I may go for it. Dont get me wrong I do like Ina’s receipes and have made several of them and have her books too.