The founder of food website RecipeTin Eats has accused an influencer of plagiarising her recipes in a bestselling Australian cookbook.
On Tuesday Nagi Maehashi, who started RecipeTin Eats in 2014, accused Brooke Bellamy – also known as Brooki Bakehouse – of plagiarising two of her recipes in Bellamy’s popular cookbook, Bake with Brooki.
In a post on Instagram on Tuesday night, Bellamy denied that she had taken a recipes.
“I’m no stranger to seeing my recipes copied online,” Maehashi wrote in a blog post on her website.
“But seeing what appeared to me to be one of my recipes printed in a book launched with a huge publicity campaign from one of Australia’s biggest publishers was shocking.”
Bellamy runs a bakehouse with three locations across Queensland, and has a large social media platform, with two million TikTok followers.
Posting the recipes side-by-side for readers to compare, Maehashi said two of her recipes, for caramel slice and baklava, were copied in Bellamy’s book.
She said she realised after she was contacted by a reader last year who noticed “remarkable similarities” with one of the recipes.
There had been a lengthy legal discussion with lawyers for Penguin Random House, who published Bake with Brooki in October 2024, Maehashi said.
“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 said.
“And because the income from my website helps fund my food bank, RecipeTin Meals, this isn’t just legally questionable – I find it ethically indefensible.”
Bellamy responded on social media on Tuesday night, writing on Instagram: “I did not plagiarise any recipes in my book, which consists of 100 recipes I have created over many years, since falling in love with baking and growing up baking with my mum in our home kitchen.
“In 2016 I opened my first bakery. I have been creating my recipes and selling them commercially since October 2016.”
Responding to the specific claim about copying the recipe for caramel slice, Bellamy wrote that the March 2020 Recipetin Eats recipe for the slice “uses the same ingredients as my recipe” which she said she had been making since 2016.
However, she said she had offered to remove the recipes for the slice and the baklava from “future reprints to prevent further aggravation”, and that she had “great respect” for Maehashi.
“Recipe development in today’s world is enveloped in inspiration from other cooks, cookbook authors, food bloggers and content creators. This willingness to share recipes and build on what has come before is what I love so much about baking and sharing recipes.”
Guardian Australia contacted Penguin Random House and Maehashi for comment.
In her blog post Maehashi said lawyers for the publishing house had denied the allegations, writing to her that “Our client respectfully rejects your clients’ allegations and confirms that the recipes in the BWB Book were written by Brooke Bellamy.”
“Brooke – It didn’t have to be like this. If you had asked for permission, I would have given it and, knowing me, proudly promoted your book on launch. It costs nothing to credit,” she said.
“Do better. Because the authors who pour their time, skill, and originality into their work – the ones you claim to champion – deserve it,” she said.
Last year, Maehashi’s cookbook RecipeTin Eats: Tonight topped the 2024 Australian Christmas bestsellers list, followed in second place by Bake with Brooki.
