If Mario Batali sought advice on how to respond to the sexual harassment allegations against him, it’s probably time he found some new counsel.

The US celebrity chef, known for restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles and many cook books and products, has come under fire after he included a recipe for cinnamon rolls in a statement apologising for sexual harassment.

Batali is accused of touching at least four women inappropriately in incidents spanning two decades. In a newsletter sent to his database subscribers, he issued a statement in which he apologised for “past behaviour”.

“I have made many mistakes and I am so very sorry that I have disappointed my friends, my family, my fans and my team,” he said.

“My behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility … Without the support of all of you – my fans – I would never have a forum in which to expound on this. I will work every day to regain your respect and trust.”

That’s when things took a strange turn.

“ps. in case you’re searching for a holiday-inspired breakfast, these Pizza Dough Cinnamon Rolls are a fan favorite.”

The bizarre and ill-informed decision to promote a recipe in his apology for sexual harassment left many stunned and incredulous, and also spawned plenty of parody, such as this brilliant tweet by Twitter user Alexa M Kissinger.

“Mix together:
8 oz. of misogyny
4 tbsp of disrespect
1 cup of finely honed predatory behavior
Bake at 350 until the ‘open secret’ is cooked through
Sprinkle with feigned remorse
Finish with tone deafness to taste.”

And we thought it couldn’t get any worse than Harvey Weinstein’s non-apology “that was the culture then” when allegations of his sexual harassment first surfaced.

In the wake of the allegations made about him, Batali was dropped from ABC US TV show The Chew, and Walmart and Target have stopped stocking his books and product lines.