Two of Australia’s most prominent cookbook personalities have found themselves in a legal and public showdown, as plagiarism allegations stir up the culinary community.
The drama began when RecipeTin Eats creator Nagi Maehashi accused Brooke Bellamy, founder of Brooki’s Bakehouse, of copying her recipes without credit in the best-selling cookbook Bake with Brooki. Since then, the saga has layered itself with claims, counterclaims, and calls for civility, rivaling a mille-feuille in complexity.
The players
Nagi Maehashi
Maehashi launched her food blog RecipeTin Eats in 2014, quickly amassing a devoted following for her practical, foolproof recipes. Her approach to recipe development is famously rigorous.
“I’ll create something like a German pork knuckle and end up making it 20 times,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2022.
“After the third time, you get sick of it, but not being able to figure it out irritates me. I want to be able to explain the problem, I want to get it right.”
RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi
Brooke Bellamy
In 2021, Bellamy and her partner, landscape architect Justice Bellamy, moved to Brisbane and opened Brooki’s Bakehouse. The brand took off thanks to Bellamy’s “day-in-the-life” baking videos on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Her debut cookbook Bake with Brooki, released by Penguin Australia October 2024, became a runaway success, reportedly bringing in nearly $5 million in sales.
Brooki’s Bakehouse founder Brooke Bellamy
The Accusation
The controversy ignited when Maehashi posted on social media accusing Bellamy of reproducing two of her recipes, caramel slice and baklava, without attribution.
“I have made allegations against Penguin Australia that the bestseller Bake with Brooki contains plagiarised recipes,” she wrote, “including two of mine (caramel slice & baklava), as well as recipes by other authors.”
She added: “I’m no stranger to seeing my recipes being copied online, but seeing what I believe to be my recipes and my words printed in a multi-million dollar book launched with a huge publicity campaign… was shocking.”
Maehashi shared a side-by-side photo of her caramel slice recipe and Bellamy’s version (see blow), pointing out their striking similarities.
Maehashi shared this side-by-side comparison of her caramel slice recipe next to one from Bellamy’s cookbook
On her blog, she stated that her legal team has been in discussions with Penguin’s lawyers, and that further allegedly plagiarised recipes have since emerged.
“To see them plagiarised (in my view) and used in a book for profit, without permission, and without credit, doesn’t just feel unfair. It feels like a blatant exploitation of my work,” she wrote.
Denial
Bellamy swiftly addressed the allegations in a statement posted to her Instagram, firmly denying any plagiarism.
“I have not plagiarised any of the recipes in my book which consist of 100 recipes I have created over many years since falling in love with baking as a child,” Bellamy stated.
She emphasised her history of creating and selling her own recipes commercially since October 2016.
Bellamy’s denial which she posted to her Instagram
Bellamy offered to remove the caramel slice and baklava recipes from future reprints of her book, stating that upon being contacted by Maehashi, she “immediately offered to remove both the caramel slice and baklava recipes from future reprints of her cookbook to ‘prevent further aggravation’.”
She added that this offer “[This] was communicated to Nagi swiftly through discussions.”
A personal plea
Adding another layer to the unfolding situation, Bellamy’s legal team issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon urging the media to “refrain from further attempted door stops at her family home.”
“While Brooke was not keen to raise this matter, and it has no bearing on the story itself, we feel it prudent to provide context as it may encourage a more measured handling of your dealings with her and her family,” the statement read.
The statement revealed that “Brooke is four months pregnant and, as much as possible for a driven businesswoman, is focused on managing and reducing stress in her life.”
Bellamy herself added: “The past 24 hours have been extremely overwhelming. I have had media outside my home and business, and have been attacked online. It has been deeply distressing for my colleagues and my young family.”
More bakers, more claims
The controversy widened when American baking blogger Sally McKenney, of Sally’s Baking Addiction, accused Bellamy of copying her Best Vanilla Cake I’ve Ever Had, originally published in 2019.
“Original recipe creators who put in the work to develop and test recipes deserve credit,” McKenney wrote on Instagram. “Especially in a best-selling cookbook.”
McKenney revealed that Maehashi had informed her of the alleged plagiarism months prior.
Sally McKenney, of Sally’s Baking Addiction, also claimed Bellamy plagiarised one of her recipes
Tables turned
In a surprising twist, Maehashi herself is now facing criticism, with celebrity chef Luke Mangan also accusing her of inadequately crediting one of his recipes in her own cookbook.
“I couldn’t say off the top of my head whether she did reach out and ask permission or not,” Mangan told The Courier Mail. “She has credited my recipe, but I would have preferred a bigger mention and at least linking people to our website.”
Maehashi’s cookbook includes a note stating, “the author and the publisher have made every effort to contact copyright holders.”
Fallout
In the wake of the allegations, Bellamy has been dropped from a federal initiative aimed at promoting entrepreneurship to young girls.
“While we make no legal assessment on the allegations aired in the media,” a spokesperson for the Academy for Enterprising Girls told the ABC Online, “we have informed Ms. Bellamy that we will not move forward with the engagement at this time.”
Bellamy has also faced a barrage of negative comments on her social media accounts in the wake of Maehashi’s accusations.
The online backlash became so intense that Maehashi herself uploaded a video to her Instagram, urging her followers to “stop the hateful comments.”
As for the next chapter? Well, that’s yet to be written, however, this complex culinary clash raises significant questions about recipe ownership, inspiration versus imitation, and the responsibilities of creators in the digital age.