Fat Cupcake opened its doors in Southeast Portland about a month ago. The new location, the company's second, serves pastries and a wide variety of cupcakes out of a small storefront on 72nd Avenue.

In early September, however, not long after opening, the shop ran into some trouble when Portland customers became upset by the "Mr. President" cupcake, described on the menu as "Oreo () Cookie baked inside white cake, cookies n' cream buttercream."

On Yelp, one reviewer wrote, "Very troubling. They were serving a cupcake called the 'Mr. President' that had an Oreo cookie inside. When I tried to point out the racism implied, they claimed that 'our current president loves Oreos.'"

When we called to ask Anjelica Hayes, the owner of Fat Cupcake, about the accusations of racism, she responded, "I have been asked this so many times."

She said over the phone Monday, unequivocally, that she isn't racist.

For one thing, she said, "I myself am black."

Hayes said she is a born and raised Portlander. She said she is very involved in the community and has even started something she called, "our 'Piece of Cake' movement."

"We have driven around Portland to give away cakes to the homeless," she said, "and donated thousands of cupcakes to the community."

Hayes told us that the name for the cupcake came because she wanted to call it something to honor what a great cupcake it is.

"What sounds like it would be really fancy?" she said. "We thought of the presidential office."

"I just thought it was an honorary name," she said. "I thought I'd be honored if someone named a cupcake after me."

She said that at one point someone told her that President Barack Obama's favorite cookie was the Oreo. "So we thought that was a cool coincidence," she said.

But since opening in Southeast Portland, Hayes said she's had to field questions about whether her cupcakes are racist. She also has a cupcake called "The Intern" that the same customer quoted above on Yelp took to be a slam on Monica Lewinsky. Hayes said it is not.

At least until the election is over, Hayes said, they have changed the name of the cupcake to a more generic title: "The Professional."

She said the cupcake, whatever it's called, is one of the store's most popular items.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker