Food Network Chef Cut For Plagiarism

Celebrity chef Anne Thornton has been accused of ripping off hotshot bakers like Martha Stewart and Ina Garten, and will lose her sweet television show with Food Network.

The host of Dessert First was told her show would not be renewed after the second season. "The network was very concerned because many of her recipes were close — with only a few minor edits — to other chefs' recipes," an anonymous source told the New York Post.

The recipes that got Thornton in trouble were her German chocolate cupcakes, with frosting very similar to Martha Stewart's coconut-pecan frosting. Thornton's lemon bars were similar to Ina Garten's lemon squares, and her mascaropone-stuffed French toast mimicked one in The Essence of Chocolate.

A Food Network representative claimed that Thornton's show was not renewed "purely due to ratings/performance," the Post reports.

Thornton also defends her recipes, saying, "The same thing with baking or frosting — there are only so many ways you can do it... It's chemistry; it's not just cooking. So there are always going to be things that are the same."

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