Cake fights: five baking controversies from Eccles to Isis

A questionable decision involving cake has left bosses at supermarket giant Walmart red-faced amid the ongoing Confederate flag row in the United States. The megastore chain found itself in hot water this week after one of its in-store bakeries rejected a customer's request for a Confederate flag cake, only to accept one bearing the flag of terror group Islamic State.

ABC news

It's not the first time that cake designs have been at the centre of a political news-storm in recent years:

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'Gay cake' uproar

The battle for gay rights found an unusual new frontline earlier this year when a Belfast bakery made national news for its refusal to bake a pro-gay marriage cake. The Ashers Baking Company argued that making a cake featuring Sesame Street's "confirmed bachelors" Bert and Ernie and the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" conflicted with the owners' Christian faith. The case ignited debate throughout the UK, with most polls coming out in support of the bakery's right to refuse the request. However, a landmark ruling in May found the bakery guilty of discrimination. Surprisingly, it wasn't the only cake design at the centre of a gay rights row. Salon reports that as the number of states recognising gay marriage has increased, so has the number of bakeries making the headlines for refusing to make wedding cakes for gay couples.

Happy birthday, dear Adolf

It's no wonder that a couple might be up in arms because their three-year-old son had been refused a birthday cake. However, when the toddler in question is named Adolf Hitler and his parents are white nationalists, the issue becomes more complicated. Back in 2008, staff at a New Jersey bakery refused to personalise a birthday cake for Adolf Hitler Campbell, whose sister is named Joycelynn Aryan Nation. The boy's parents finally got their desired cake from a Walmart bakery, although the chain was quick to distance itself from the incident, saying it would be reviewing its guidelines. "A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what [Hitler] did," dad Heath Campbell reassured NBC. He also denied that his choice of name meant he was a bigot, arguing that several mixed race children had been invited to the party for a piece of Adolf Hitler's cake. "If we're so racist, then why would I have them come into my home?"

Greggs v Eccles

Britain's popular high-street baker unexpectedly came under fire in 2013 – not for the cakes they had on sale, but for one of the ones that they didn't, namely the Eccles cake. The sugary delicacy was celebrated in Eccles Cake Week, but not one could be found in any branch of Greggs, including the one in Eccles. The Eccles debate has actually been raging for over a decade, it subsequently emerged, and Greggs has refused to back down in the face of pressure from fans of the currant pastry, citing low customer demand. Ian Edmonds, production manager at Real Lancashire Eccles Cakes, was not convinced, calling the decision "disgraceful".

Bad taste 'Twin Towers' cake

Austrian baker Thomas Kielbauer found himself on the receiving end of international outrage when images of his "Twin Towers" cake found their way onto social media. The iced sponge creation appeared to depict two planes hitting the World Trade Centre, prompting accusations that he was ridiculing one of the worst terror attacks in history. As the pressure began to mount at home and abroad, Kienbauer leapt to defend his creation as a satire on Austrian politics, with each tower representing one of the country's two major political parties. As far as he was concerned, it was all a misunderstanding. "One needs to know the context which motivated me to make it," he explained to the Washington Post, saying he had no intention of dismantling his dramatic statement cake.