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Trump Cake Controversy Turns Out To Have Many Layers

By Betsy Klein

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- A rising cake controversy appeared to deflate on Saturday.

The issue stemmed from a pastry parallel -- a cake at President Donald Trump's inaugural ball Friday night mirrored one at President Barack Obama's in 2013.

Duff Goldman, of Food Network cake-baking fame, tweeted two side-by-side images of identical cakes. One of the cakes was made by Goldman and his Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes for Obama's inaugural ball in 2013, and the other was from DC's Buttercream Bakeshop, cut by Trump Friday night at his inaugural ball.

"The cake on the left is the one I made for President Obama's inauguration four years ago. The one on the right is Trump's. I didn't make it," Goldman tweeted, adding a chin-scratching emoji for good measure. The tweet went viral overnight, with up to 67,000 retweets and more than 118,000 likes as of midday Saturday.

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Buttercream Bakeshop, led by owner Tiffany MacIsaac, explained the situation Saturday morning with an Instagram of the Friday's cake creation.

"Excited to share the cake we got to make for one of last night's inaugural balls. While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else's work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one. @duff_goldman originally created this for Obama's inauguration 4 years ago and this years committee commissioned us to re-create it," the caption read.

MacIsaac told The Washington Post that she encouraged the client to use the 2013 cake as inspiration.

"They said, 'Nope, they want this exact cake. It's perfect.' And we said, 'Great,' " MacIsaac told the Post.

The bakeshop, possibly foreseeing conflicts with its Washington clientele, noted that all of the profits from the cake will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, "Because basic human rights are something every man, woman and child~ straight, gay or the rainbow in between~ deserve!"

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A quick stop to the shop Saturday afternoon saw a bustling bakery -- mostly filled with Women's March participants.

Trump cut the cake Friday night at his third and final inaugural ball, the "Salute to our Armed Services" event at the National Building Museum. He was joined by First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence, and broke into the design -- which, per a source with knowledge, was mostly made of styrofoam -- with a silver sword.

For his part, Goldman decided to spread the love on Saturday afternoon.

"Remembering a fantastic cake I made is awesome and the chef that re-created it for @POTUS Trump did a fantastic job. Group hug, y'all," he tweeted, adding an American flag emoji.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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